Lecture series focuses on ‘Access to Opportunity’ through Title IX
8/22/2013
 
Title IX, the law that secured gender equity in educational institutions across the United States, will be discussed in a year-long series of lectures at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. 

The series marks UW-Stevens Point’s hosting of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Final Four in March 2014, and centers on the “Access to Opportunity” that Title IX gave to young women playing scholastic sports. 

“The ‘Access to Opportunity’ series shows the connection between our diverse academic disciplines and the sport of basketball as we host the tournament,” said Nancy LoPatin-Lummis, series organizer. “It really highlights what the university believes, that breadth in one’s education makes everything more meaningful.”

The series will conclude with a talk by Pat McKinzie-Lechault, the first female athletic scholarship recipient in Illinois, one of the first Women’s Professional Basketball League draftees, and the author of “Home Sweet Hardwood: A Title IX Trailblazer Breaks Barriers Through Basketball.”

“’Home Sweet Hardwood’ tells an inspiring story of one woman chasing her dream,” said LoPatin-Lummis. “I’d like to encourage community members and book clubs to read the book in hopes of generating discussion and awareness for the author’s visit and the NCAA Final Four in March.”

The lectures will be held on select Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Laird Room of the Dreyfus University Center on campus. The public is invited to attend free of charge. The schedule is as follows:

  • Sept. 17 - “How We Got To Title IX: A Short History of Women’s Rights,” Teresa Kaminski, professor of history​

  • Oct. 8 - “Personal Reflections on Title IX and Women’s Collegiate Basketball,” Shirley Egner, UW-Stevens Point basketball coach

  • Oct. 29 - “The Politics and Law of Title IX,” John Blakeman, professor of political science

  • Nov. 19 - “Competitive Athletics and Changing Gender Roles,” Helena Alden, assistant professor of sociology

  • Jan. 28, 2014 - “The Psychological Effects of Participation in Sports for Girls and Women,” Jeana Magyar-Moe, associate professor of psychology

  • Feb. 18, 2014 - “Playing the Game: Women’s Sports in Fiction, Prose and Poetry,”  Robert Sirabian, associate professor of English

  • March 18, 2014 - “A Mother’s Inspiration, A Daughter’s Destiny – Four Decades, Three Generations, Two Continents, One Game,” Pat McKinzie-Lechault, player, first Women’s Professional Basketball League; teacher/coach, International School of Geneva, Switzerland


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