In 1972 President Nixon signed into law the education amendments. Buried inside that constitutional appendage was Title IX: a small but significant line that states simply, “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.” Forty years later, female athletes from the high-school to the Olympic and professional levels have Title IX to thank for giving them opportunities they hadn’t had before. In this week’s Newsweek, President Obama commemorates Title IX’s 40-year anniversary, and some of the U.S.’s most prominent female athletes, politicians, and scientists reflect on how the law impacted their lives.
Pictured: Yvone Burch, 13, an outfielder for a Babe Ruth League team in Concord, N.C., takes a swing in 1973.
