SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was signed into law on June 23 of that year, ushering in a new era in the United States, 50 years ago Thursday.
 
The landmark statute reads:
 

“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.”

 
Though it made no mention of athletics, the effect on college sports would become undeniable.
 
“We celebrate the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which had a transformational impact on the participation and visibility of women’s athletics,” Southern Conference Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “Many of the increased opportunities afforded to women’s and girls’ athletics in our country were fostered by the creation of Title IX.”
 
The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women launched in 1972, and a year later, the NCAA eliminated its rule barring women from competing in men’s championships. The NCAA, which initially resisted Title IX, began sponsoring Division I women’s championships in 1981-82, soon wresting control of women’s college athletics from the AIAW.
 
Under the direction of Commissioner Ken Germann, the Southern Conference added its first three women’s championships in 1983-84, as volleyball, basketball and tennis joined the league’s men’s offerings at the time.
 
“From those early years, the SoCon has worked diligently to grow women's athletics opportunities in every way possible,” said former SoCon Associate Commissioner Sue Arakas, who retired in May after 28 years working at the league office. “And not just on the field or court, but in administrative roles, too. The conference has had females in lead roles, coaches, college presidents, faculty athletics representatives, athletics directors and the role of senior woman administrator.”
 
Just five league schools fielded volleyball teams in 1983, with Western Carolina winning the inaugural tournament to claim the first women’s title in SoCon history. Chattanooga would go on to capture the women’s basketball and tennis titles in the second semester of that academic year.
 
Debbie Southern took over the Furman tennis program in 1985 and led the Paladins to unprecedented heights during her 31-year coaching career, leading Furman to 19 regular-season and 16 SoCon tournament titles before retiring in 2015. The SoCon and ITA Women’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Famer competed under both the AIAW and NCAA umbrellas during her own collegiate playing career at Tennessee from 1977-81.
 
“Even though Title IX passed, many schools did not enforce it to the level it should be enforced,” she said. “It took decades for some schools to create equality, and some are probably still not there.”
 
The additions of more SoCon women’s sports followed throughout the years, and today, the league sponsors nine women’s sports and the co-ed sport of rifle, offering opportunities for more than 1,100 female student-athletes in 2021-22.
 
The early days of women’s athletics in the SoCon were fruitful.
 
App State women’s basketball player Valorie Whiteside competed in the league from 1984-88. Her 2,944 career points remain a league record and rank 15^th in Division I history to this day, while her freshman rebounding average (15.5 per game) and her career free-throw attempts (1,173) remain DI records. Whiteside was a member of the inaugural SoCon Hall of Fame class in 2009.
 
In 1988, the first year the SoCon sponsored a women’s indoor track and field championship, ETSU’s Angie Barker claimed the NCAA’s indoor shot put crown. It was the first of four NCAA women’s track and field titles for SoCon student-athletes to date. App State’s Mary Jayne Harrelson won the outdoor 1,500-meter run in both 1999 and 2001 and Samford’s Karisa Nelson won the indoor mile in 2017. Barker and Harrelson would later join Whiteside in the SoCon Hall of Fame.
 
SoCon female student-athletes have excelled internationally as well as on the national stage.
 
In 1984, former ETSU rifle student-athlete Gloria Parmentier represented the United States at the Olympics, finishing fourth in Women's Standard Rifle 3x20. App State alum Melissa Morrison claimed the bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.
 
Former Chattanooga volleyball player Lara Newberry (2005-08) is the NCAA Division I career leader in digs (3,176) and digs per set (6.58).
 
Before the Southern Conference began sponsoring women’s athletics, Furman’s women’s golf team won the 1976 AIAW national championship. Long before the SoCon sponsored women’s golf, the Paladins would produce several legends of the sport in Betsy King, Beth Daniel and Dottie Pepper.
 
The SoCon Hall of Fame includes 15 women, including three of the five in the latest class, announced in May.
 
One member of the 2022 SoCon Hall of Fame class is former Chattanooga softball player Michelle Fuzzard LaCourse, who wrapped up her playing career in 2012 and went on to serve as an assistant coach for the Mocs from 2013-18.
 
“To appreciate Title IX is to have gratitude for the women who came before us. As female college athletes today, we can tend to take for granted the bus rides, meals and everyday participation in our sport,” she said. “I think it’s important to look back on how far we’ve come as female athletes in sport and continue to push forward for the next generation. As someone who has two daughters himself and watched Title IX have its presence felt through sports at the collegiate level, (Chattanooga softball) Coach (Frank) Reed always stressed to us the importance of continuing to advocate for women’s sports. Those are lessons I’ve taken to heart well after my playing days and plan to impress on my daughters once they begin theirs.”
 
Arakas, who witnessed firsthand the growth of women’s athletics at the SoCon throughout her nearly three-decade career within the league, recognizes the monumental effort that went into making that a reality.
 
“Decades ago, women student-athletes at Southern Conference member schools, like all other colleges across the country, were not afforded equal sport opportunities as their male counterparts,” she said. “Most of their competition was often within an intramural structure. However, with sheer determination and the love of competition, they met and overcame challenges just so they could 'play the game' on a scale similar to their male classmates. The AIAW administered women's championships because the NCAA only governed male sports and their respective championships. Imagine that as recently as the late 1970s, at some Division I institutions, the women's basketball team shared uniforms with the volleyball team! That is unacceptable in today's world thanks to the efforts of people of all ranks and in all roles who began the push to change the intercollegiate athletics model to what it is today. Title IX was the culmination of all that difficult work.”
 
In honor of his contributions toward advancing women’s athletics in the league, the SoCon’s women’s all-sports trophy is named after Ken Germann, the SoCon commissioner who oversaw the addition of the league’s first women’s championships. Samford has claimed the last two Germann Cups.
 
"Title IX turning 50 will be a great opportunity for us to celebrate our women’s sports programs,” Bulldog Deputy AD and Senior Woman Administrator Michelle Durban said. “Our current student-athletes have always had the ability to participate in sports, so I believe it will be an important year of reflection on how we got to today, and where we can go in the future with the help of Title IX legislation."