37 Words by Sherry Boschert

Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination is the topic for 37 WORDS by Sherry Boschert (Plug-in Hybrids). An award-winning journalist, Boschert grabs readers’ attention immediately by jumping to 1969 and sharing the story of Bernice Resnick Sandler, a doctoral candidate at University of Maryland who struggled to even be interviewed for teaching positions. Explaining that “sex discrimination” was a relatively new word at that time, Boschert follows Sandler’s efforts to highlight and combat unequal admissions, hiring, and tenure practices at colleges and universities, including her filing of a class-action complaint in 1970. The data cited is fascinating; for example, “The University of Virginia rejected 21,000 women applicants in the early 1960s alone and didn’t turn away a single man in the same period.” Another section of the book centers on Pamela Price, a Yale University student and a plaintiff in the 1977 case (Alexander v. Yale) which established that sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination. 

Even though they feel we have so much farther to go, I think our students will be intrigued by the fight against pervasive sexist attitudes in the 1960s and 1970s. A third story (sadly) may seem more familiar to them as it describes efforts by a Fresno State athletics administrator, Diane Milutinovich, to obtain equal funding for men’s and women’s sports in the 1990s. A call to continued action and an important historical record, 37 WORDS has extensive notes and a detailed index, both of which will be useful aids to our student researchers.

 "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." -- Title IX's first thirty-seven words

Noteworthy from NPR: Crowds cheered as Rachel Balkovec, the first woman to manage an MLB-affiliated team, took home a victory for the New York Yankees-affiliated Tampa Tarpons on Friday, April 8, 2022 - almost 50 years after enactment of Title IX.