In honor of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the women’s basketball Division II and III national championship games will be held at the Dallas Mavericks’ Arena. The D-I Final Four and beyond are to be held there as well.

Title IX is a civil rights law that prohibits schools or educational programs that receive Federal financial assistance from discriminating against someone based on their sex. It was signed into law on June 23, 1972, as part of the Education Amendments Act. 

A year prior to Title IX becoming law, an estimated 295,000 women participated in high school varsity sports. However, the numbers increased to 2.8 million in the early 2000s.

In 2002, Title IX was renamed to Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of coauthor and U.S. Representative Patsy Mink.

Title IX was originally created to stop male-dominated academic disciplines from discriminating against women. However, the law has evolved over the years to protect students from sexual assault/harassment and discrimination of one’s gender identity and sexual orientation. 

“It’s humbling the opportunities that we have and the opportunity to honor those who had gone before us and paved the way,” Senior Forward Annie Roshak explained. “I just hope we can continue to grow in, but also thank those that have come before us.”

In relation to sports, Title IX prohibits universities from denying athletic scholarships and providing fewer medical services, and facilities for women.

“To think how far women’s sports have come is just incredible and humbling to think of the opportunities that we have today that we can’t take for granted,” Graduate guard Hallie Heidemann said.

Women currently hold 25% of all NCAA head coaching and athletic director positions. They also have 30% of conference commissioner positions. The numbers are slowly starting to climb as more women and girls break the boundaries.

“It’s so much more than basketball,” Eagle Head Coach Kari Pickens said.

While Title IX is known for helping women in sports, it also has opened several doors for women, such as access to higher educational institutions, employment opportunities, math, and science.

“Getting to play, acknowledge that, and represent that as well is something special,” Heidemann concluded.

The Eagles will take on Minnesota Duluth in American Airlines Center on April 1 at 2:30 P.M. Central and 3:30 P.M. Eastern. Tune into 88.9 WRDL to listen to students Ethan Jenkins and Cade Cracas cover the game.