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The panel discussion “Title IX Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow: A Walk in Her Shoes” highlights the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The panel will take place on Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Copeland 142.
According to the Title IX statement, “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.”
The panel members plan to reinforce the importance of this federal civil rights law.
“Thirty-seven words changed everything,” said Nita Unruh, the UNK department chair of sports management. “It was written in the beginning to bring equality and education. To bring women the ability to go to the doctors, lawyers, engineers — and pursue educational activities that were not being opportunities.”
On Aug. 14, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education issued new Title IX regulations requiring colleges and universities to investigate and settle sexual misconduct cases. Title IX provides the standards for institutions receiving complaints of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating, domestic violence and stalking.
The planning and promotion of the panel is brought to campus by the PE 429/829P sports marketing class and it is sponsored by the Kinesiology and Sport Sciences Department.
Maddie Squiers, who is a graduate assistant coach on the UNK volleyball team, is a member of the sports marketing class.
“I didn’t know a ton about it until I got to college as a female athlete,” said Squiers, who played Loper volleyball as an undergraduate student. “I was just under the impression that it’s like equal opportunities for sports between men and women. But it’s so much more than that.”
The panel features UNK alumna JoAn Scott who is the managing director for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and Brenda VanLengen, an Emmy award-winning
sports broadcaster. Both women were athletes at UNK in the 1980s.
Other panelists include local student athletes such as Reagan Gallaway, a senior wrestler from Amherst and recent bronze medalist at the World Championships in France. Gabrielle Oborney, a pole vaulter on the UNK women’s track and field team, will serve on the panel as well.
“It’s good to be educated on it because it wasn’t always like this,” Oborney said. “They were discriminated against in the past, and this act has allowed for females to be able to do the sport they want to do.”