LINDA RAUNIG
Title IX Presentation
Carroll College – Helena, Montana
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It is such an honor to be here tonight and be part of your celebration of TIX. Thank you Coach Sayers for reaching out to me and offering me this amazing opportunity. Helena was my home during my HS and college years and I feel truly connected to the community and to Carroll. When I was young and prior to moving to Helena, my family would travel here from Missoula to watch Carroll play FB. My uncle, Russ Pilcher, played on the team and was in fact, an all American punter. He was inducted into the Carroll College Athletic HOF in 1979. Many years later while in HS and when I was living in Helena, I used to go to the PE Center and play pick up games of basketball with the college players. Today has been wonderful meeting up with Helena folks, watching the basketball game, and touring the city. It is very special for me to be here tonight. I’m a TIX baby and this is my story.
I am a retired basketball coach that spent 9 yrs at the DI level and 25 years at the NCAA D2 level at Regis University in Denver CO. Regis is a catholic Jesuit institution that had an undergraduate enrollment of about 1,500 students when I was there. Regis and Carroll are very similar in many ways.
In September of last fall, I was fortunate to have been inducted into the Regis Athletic HOF along with one of my former players and one of my teams in addition to several other outstanding women athletes from other sports. I mention this because like this event tonight, it was also a celebration of TIX. One of the things that made that evening really really cool was that the induction class was all women. I am extremely proud of Regis University for doing that.
Sports established my place in the world. It was my ticket to growth as a person and success as a professional….because I had a chance to PARTICIPATE and compete in sport. In all, I played 8 yrs, coached for 36 yrs, taught a Theory of Coaching class for 4 yrs, and performed administrative duties for our athletic department for 3 years. Participating and being involved in sport almost all of my life has shaped me into the person I am today.
I did a lot of reading in preparation for this event and I learned that women began participating in sport in the United States in the late 1800’s. A fact I did not know. Tennis, baseball, volleyball, bicycling, track and field, golf, field hockey, tetherball, and basketball were all very popular. By the 1920’s almost every state required PE for all students. And 22% of the universities in the US offered at least one women’s intercollegiate team. Again, a fact I did not know until now.
My grandmother, Margaret, grew up on a farm between Shelby and Conrad MT, two small towns north of Great Falls. She attended Conrad HS where she played on the girls basketball team. They wore skirts for uniforms and the rules were quite different from today’s game. Players were only able to hold the ball for 3 seconds, only two dribbles were allowed, there was NO running or jumping, and defensive players were not allowed to steal the ball. The game was played 6 on 6 and players were only allowed to roam in the area of the court designated by their position. In 1929, Conrad HS won a championship and players were awarded a pin to commemorate the victory. I proudly wear that pin tonight in honor of my sweet grandmother.
As more women began playing and excelling in sport, suddenly participation was looked upon negatively by educators. Girls and women were reduced to “play days” rather than what was then considered a full schedule of competitions and in the 50’s and 60’s the gym was off limits. My Mother never had a chance to play.
As a youngster, I was extremely shy and quiet. I loved running, jumping, hitting and throwing a ball, shooting buckets in the driveway, and any game we could play in the yard or the street. There were tons of kids in the neighborhood and we would devise games and they were always competitive. Kickball, baseball, and 500 were favorites and we played boys and girls in the same games without a thought that anyone would be left out. And I was pretty good at all of it!
When my brother became involved in LL I would attend practices and games. I stood right on the sideline and took it all in. At times I would be given an opportunity to step in during practice and shag balls, pick up equipment, call balls and strikes, and keep score. But, despite being better than the majority of the boys on the field, I was never given a uniform or a spot on the team. It was the first time in my life I felt cheated. I wanted to compete so badly.
Fifty years ago in June of 1972 TIX was signed into law. I had just completed my 8th grade school year. At the time we lived in Missoula. My parents gave me a choice regarding which HS I would attend the next fall. My choices were Sentinel HS - the public school near our house - or Sacred Heart HS - the all girls catholic school across town. At the time, Sacred Heart had no plans to add interscholastic sports for its students. Private schools that did not take federal funding were not required to comply with this new law. I chose Sentinel. I am forever grateful to my parents for allowing me to make what was probably the biggest decision I’d ever made to that point in my life.
After the passage of TIX high schools were given one year to comply with the law. My recollection of my athletic experience at Sentinel is a bit sketchy. I don’t recall ever playing against another school - even those in town. Gym time was reserved for those of us interested in playing and we would show up and scrimmage against each other. No uniforms, no coach, no schedule. But…..we were so happy to play! In the spring of that year I did play on the golf team. And we had an opportunity to compete against other schools. This was my first competitive experience as a high schooler.
The summer after my freshman year we moved to Helena where I would attend Capital HS in its inaugural year. Now, it’s the fall of 1973 and one year has passed for schools to comply with the law. The girls basketball season in MT during that era was played in the fall. VB would not be a sport offering in the state for several more years.
My experience at Capital was all I had dreamed of. We had several very tall girls on our team and all were fairly skilled in the sport. We had nice uniforms, access to the gym, a full game schedule, fair treatment by athletic trainers, and a full complement of coaching staff. In the spring I participated in T/F for two years and played on the golf team my senior year.
My basketball coach, Bob Ronan who currently still resides in Helena, was an elementary school teacher prior to Capital HS opening its doors. He decided to apply for a teaching job at the HS. He ended up being offered a position on the condition that he coach the girls basketball team. He had never played competitive basketball. He was a FB player in HS and college. Nevertheless, he took on the challenge and accepted the position.
From our very first practice he taught us how to compete, to work hard, and to be great teammates. He ended up being a quick study and he would be the first to admit today that we, the players, taught him the game. He coached us as athletes. No kid gloves because we were girls. He was a fantastic coach for us as we all learned together. He was the perfect hire. I am so grateful for him, his leadership, tutelage, patience, and competitive spirit. He was a guiding light to a group of young inexperienced players. During my three years at Capital we were very successful and that success continued under Coach Ronan’s leadership well after my class graduated.
Our hs graduation ceremony was held at Carroll in the PE Center. The next fall I would attend the University of Denver. My freshman class at DU were the first female athletes to receive athletic scholarships at the school. Beyond the scholarship money I was awarded, my experience in college was quite different from HS. We weren’t treated as college players are today, nor were we given the same amenities the men’s team had. They were bussed to games, we were in vans, station wagons, or drove our own cars. They were given practice uniforms that were laundered every day. We wore our own clothes. We bought our own footwear. We had to wait until the men’s team was done with practice to use the main court in our fieldhouse. Our coach was paid part time and we had no assistant coach.
Despite these shortcomings, our teams were very successful at DU. After graduating I had a brief stint in the Ladies Professional Basketball League. The league was in existence for a very short period of time and in the season I played, it folded right before Christmas. This is when my coaching career began.
I then returned to MT for a brief period and then on to Colorado where I was an assistant coach for girls basketball and head coach for the track and field team at a high school in the Denver area. I liked it so much that I decided I would pursue a master’s degree so that I could coach at the college level. Washington State University offered me an opportunity to serve as Graduate Assistant Coach in WBB. There, my role was to coach the JV team and assist with the varsity team. Just as I was defending my thesis and finishing up my degree program, the head coach retired and the FT assistant coach was named the new head coach. He asked me to be his FT assistant. I was in!
In the 1980’s, I coached four years at Washington State, two years at Arizona State, followed by three years at Ball State University in Indiana - I was the only FT assistant coach in each of these programs. Today - Division I programs are allowed up to three FT assistants and beginning July 1 of this year that will be increased to 5 FT assistants.
I feel truly blessed to have been able to follow my passion for sport through my entire career. But it would not have happened without the passage of Title IX.
Today we stand on the shoulders of the brave women and men who ardently fought for the rights of girls in education. In 1970 a panel of these distinguished women testified in Congressional hearings. Over seven days these women outlined the many ways females were shut out of opportunities. I’ll share a few:
● In the 1960’s - State Universities in VA turned away 21,000 women. During the same period, not a single male was turned away. ● A brochure from UNC declared that admission of women was “restricted to those who are especially well qualified”. In the freshman class of 1970 there were 1,900 men and 426 women ● Quotas in many medical and law schools limited the admission of females to 5-10 of 100 admitted. ● Even though most teachers were women in this time period - they were rarely promoted. A very high % of principals were men.
Today it may be hard to imagine a time when people believed girls shouldn’t play sports. Imagine if the greatest athletes of all time, Simone Biles and Serena Williams, were told they couldn’t compete. Imagine if girls today were told that math and science were too difficult for them, that college was a waste of time, and that they should leave these pursuits to the men.
It was only 50 years ago that all of this was true! In 1972 Congress passed the law that forever changed the lives of girls and women. Title IX reaches far beyond sports. It is actually a Civil Rights Law written to provide equal opportunity to both genders in all aspects of education. These recipients include postsecondary institutions, charter schools, for-profit schools, libraries, and museums. Prior to Title IX, it was perfectly legal to discriminate in any education program against girls and women.
There are important things that Title IX does not do. It does not mandate "quotas." The use of this hot button word creates the impression that schools, especially in the area of athletics, must set aside a certain mandatory number of slots for women. In fact, every court that has heard this argument has said that Title IX does NOT require quotas. A school can comply with Title IX by showing that it is trying to expand opportunities for female athletes or that it is accommodating the interests of female students at the school.
TIX had an impact immediately. In 1974 female admissions to law and medical schools soared. Between 1971 and 76 there was an increase of 40%. By fall of 1976 one in every 4 law and medical school students was a woman. Today 54% of law school students are women and 51% of medical school students are women.
Early in the TIX era 1 in 30 girls participated in sports- today that number is 2 in 5.
By 1981 - 1.8 million girls are playing sports and are ⅓ of all athletes
Today there are approximately 3.5 million girls playing hs sports and over 200,000 playing collegiate sports.
WE HAVE MUCH TO CELEBRATE!
At its heart, TIX is about opportunity - the chance to play, to learn, and to see how far you can go. So while sport opportunities have grown exponentially, the gender gap still exists. The Women’s Sport Foundation published a report in May of 2022. We are still woefully short of achieving gender equity in collegiate sport. For all the progress made in helping girls and women in the United States realize their promise and potential as athletes and leaders in sport, those gains have been made without a full commitment to Title IX’s mandate of equitable and fair treatment.
As an example, you may remember the TikTok video posted by Oregon Ducks wbb player Sedona Prince. She captured the weight room set up for the women’s teams and the men’s teams during the Final Four just one year ago. Gender disparities that female athletes were subjected to at the NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship in 2021 garnered national attention. This led to an external review of the NCAA and their practices. Findings revealed that the NCAA’s broadcast agreements, corporate sponsorship contracts, distribution of revenue, organizational structure, and culture all prioritize Division I men’s basketball over everything else in ways that create, normalize, and perpetuate gender inequities.
So while we celebrate our progress we must also not rest on the accomplishment. Author and journalist Karen Blumenthal writes “As long as some people have fewer opportunities because of their gender, it will continue to be a work in progress. But when they fight for their right to try - to participate fully in sports and school as themselves, to be free from harassment and abuse, and to have access to equal resources - Title IX is a powerful tool on their side.
As girls and women make progress, closing the last gaps in opportunities may get harder, like running the last mile of a very long race. We will continue to redefine what people of all genders can do. But ultimately, the true goal of equal opportunity is a simple one: the hope that someday all people will have the chance to find out just how good they can really be.”
Now as I circle back to my own experience, the one thing I wish I had that I didn’t were strong women knowledgeable about athletics. Not the sport itself per se, but rather a mentor that could help guide me through the labyrinth of careers, opportunities, and challenges. Ladies, use the folks around you that can mentor you in this way so that you can enter the work world and parenthood prepared to take action.
While we continue to celebrate Title IX and the myriad of leaders who persisted in the fight to spur the creation of the law and help integrate it into society over the last 50 years, let’s all commit to fulfilling its full promise by ensuring that opportunities for girls and women — on and off the field — are limitless.
In closing, a GIANT example of how far we’ve come. Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. As is typical of a big sporting event in the US, there will be a military jet flyover prior to kick off. Every single pilot in those jets will be women!
Strong Women - May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them