Title IX at 50: A Critical Celebration

Abstract

This article is a critical celebration of Title IX. Fifty years of this landmark civil rights legislation has brought tremendous progress for girls and women in all areas of the U.S. educational system—including sport. However, Title IX has yet to achieve its full potential. For this to happen, I propose nine pressing issues that must be addressed: enforcing compliance; roster management and other dubious compliance tactics; more opportunities for women of color; the leadership gap; sex-segregated sport; the inclusion of transgender athletes; name, image, and likeness opportunities; the athletic arms race; and sexual harassment and violence. Based on current, scholarship, published data, and contemporary examples, this “nine for IX” approach is not a critique of the law but rather a critique of those aspects of American interscholastic and intercollegiate sport that continually hamstring Title IX’s power.