Today marks the 50th Anniversary of Title IX being signed into law.
The 37 words in the statute changed the course of women’s sports as colleges across the country increased their spending on the development of women’s teams. No longer were intramurals considered “enough” to foster the growth of women’s sports. It was now the law for schools who receive federal funding to create equal opportunities in extracurricular activities between men and women, including intercollegiate sports.
At Texas State (called Southwest Texas State in the 1970s), women’s sports did exist before June 23, 1972. However, the sports were limited and there were no scholarships offered to women’s athletes.