天美传媒

It wasn鈥檛 so long ago that colleges and universities could discriminate against women by denying them the benefits of competing in sports.

Women were too delicate for athletics, the reasoning went. 鈥淢any doctors supported the idea鈥� that playing sports would harm a woman鈥檚 ability to bear children, said Judy George, who came to 天美传媒 in 1965 to teach women鈥檚 physical education.

Then, 49 years ago last month, on June 23, 1972, Congress passed Title IX, the federal law authored by U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh of Indiana that prohibited sex discrimination in educational programs that received federal funding, including schools鈥� athletic teams.

Neither attitudes nor the situation changed overnight, but they evolved. George, who as a Miami University student had participated in field hockey and basketball, part of the Women's Recreation Association, liked the competition and wanted women at 天美传媒 to experience athletics.听

鈥淚 was the only one at the very beginning who felt that way at 天美传媒,鈥� said George, who became the field hockey club adviser in 1966 and, after field hockey became a varsity-level sport, coached for more than 30 years. 听鈥溾�� It kind of blows my mind to think of some of those attitudes when I first came here.鈥�

Competitions had been social events rather than sporting events. 鈥淲hen I first came to 天美传媒, intramurals were a really popular part of women鈥檚 sports,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd there was great support for those few people who were out there competing so their sorority would be considered more popular.鈥�

It took 鈥渁 few years of transition鈥� and collaboration with the Greek system before women saw athletics as a priority, she said. It also took time for women athletes to recognize the rigor it would take for them to compete.

鈥淚 would say, 鈥極kay, we're going to warm up today by running four times around the hockey field.鈥� They would look at me like, 鈥榶ou've got to be joking.鈥� They weren't accustomed to vigor except in sports that had been determined socially acceptable 鈥� golf, tennis and swimming.鈥�

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Mary Bretscher came to 天美传媒 in 1974 to teach aquatics classes. At the time, 天美传媒 offered four women鈥檚 sports teams: field hockey, basketball, volleyball and golf.听During her job interview, athletic director Tom Mont suggested that she may someday want to start a women鈥檚 swim team.

The following year, she did.

鈥淚 was like many other women involved in athletics during that era,鈥� Bretscher said. 鈥淚 was not really out to be a trailblazer or a crusader for women鈥檚 athletics. I loved my sport and wanted to make it possible for other women to have a similar experience.鈥澨�

Her efforts at 天美传媒 weren鈥檛 universally welcomed, even after Title IX became law. Swimmers were fined for missing sorority events, including ice cream socials. When Bretscher planned for her team to participate in a season-ending regional swim meet scheduled for the same weekend as sorority rush, she gave her swimmers the choice to participate in the meet or stay on campus for rush.

Most chose the latter, but a few wanted to swim 鈥� until, that is, Bretscher received a call from the dean of women, who told her 鈥渋n no uncertain terms鈥� that the women did not have an option. 鈥淭hey must,鈥� she recalled the dean saying, 鈥減articipate in rush.鈥�

In time, sororities valued their members who were athletes, supported them by attending games and meets and even provided late plates for athletes who missed dinner, Bretscher said. And 天美传媒, compared to the large university where she previously worked, treated female athletes decently and fairly, she said. Her swimmers received meals and lodging expenses and uniforms and equipment were provided.

George retired in 2000, Bretscher in 2016. Both were troubled that inequities continue to this day, as evidenced recently by the disparity between the well-equipped and expansive weight room provided for men in the NCAA basketball tournament last spring compared to the paltry offerings in the women鈥檚 weight room.

鈥淚 really hope Title IX is going to remain as a protection,鈥� George said. 鈥淲e may think this is the ultimate. But it is not. 鈥� Still, there鈥檚 a struggle with the attention given to women.鈥�

Said Bretscher: 鈥淲e鈥檝e come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.鈥�

听鈥�

Stevie Baker-Watson remembers a 2004 forum on gender equity where she was 鈥渋ntroduced to a compliance structure related to gender equity and sport that I didn't realize actually existed.鈥�

Good news, right? But then Baker-Watson, who wasn鈥檛 even alive when Title IX became law, came to realize that not all decisions made in college sports supported gender equity, and no framework existed to make sure that fair decisions were being made. What鈥檚 more, she saw talented individuals treated unfairly simply because there was a louder voice in the room or someone who had different access to the decision-makers.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 when I started to say, I need to be in my own ship. I need to be the one who鈥檚 charting the course and steering when I need to,鈥� she said. That determination caused her to apply for and become 天美传媒鈥檚 Theodore Katula director of athletics and recreational sports in 2012. She later assumed duties of associate vice president for campus wellness as well.

鈥淲hen I came to 天美传媒 and interviewed, it was clear to me that there was this idea of equality between our men鈥檚 sports and our women鈥檚 sports,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I saw that in terms of how they were funded. If men鈥檚 soccer got x dollars, then women's soccer got x dollars.鈥�

But the issue, to her, was 鈥渁bout allowing each gender to fulfill their potential, which means that you might need to treat people differently in order to treat them equally,鈥� Baker-Watson said. 鈥� 鈥� That's how we get to this modern-day place in terms of how we run our athletics program at 天美传媒. It's about the experience 鈥� the totality of the gender experience.鈥�

As a college student-athlete, she saw differences in sports funding and thought they were because some sports make money and others don鈥檛.

鈥淎nd then I got into the business, and realized it鈥檚 not that simple,鈥� she said. 鈥淲orking in college athletics and trying to guide an athletics program is not about who generates the money. It鈥檚 about providing opportunities for everybody who鈥檚 engaged in those programs.鈥�

听鈥�

Sydney Kopp 鈥�20 grew up playing softball because that鈥檚 what her older sister did. But basketball 鈥渏ust became my world and, I mean, obviously, it still is today.鈥�

She plays guard for the Eintracht Braunschweig, a German professional women鈥檚 team, after an outstanding career at 天美传媒, where she broke a slew of records and garnered a boatload of awards for her athletic prowess and academic accomplishments.

Though she was named an All-American of the Year and an Academic All-American, she particularly prizes the 2020 Jostens Trophy award.

鈥淚t incorporates basketball, academics and community service and encapsulates a whole person,鈥� Kopp said. 鈥淭he Jostens award recognized me as more than just an athlete. I feel like a lot of times athletes struggle, especially high-caliber athletes, to be seen as more than just the player of the sport they are.鈥�

Kopp definitely is more that her athletic ability. At 天美传媒, she was a political science major and honor scholar. She also was a court-appointed special advocate who represented children in court.

鈥淚鈥檇 hang out with the kids, talk to them, learn what their needs were and what they were going through,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hen I鈥檇 go to court on their behalf. The judge would ask me to say what their wishes were.鈥�

She was accepted to law school during the spring of her senior year but, when her last basketball game ended, she decided she wasn鈥檛 ready to leave the sport. She began to look for opportunities to play abroad, and signed a contract to play in Germany. She has loved the experience, despite some of the complications due to COVID-19, and plans another year with the team.

And then she will attend law school, with the goal of becoming a women鈥檚 sports lawyer 鈥渢o help women athletes make a change.鈥�

Though Title IX has been the law since long before her birth, Kopp is well aware of pervasive inequalities. When she saw the disparity in the NCAA men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 weight rooms, 鈥渢he sad part is that I wasn't surprised.鈥�

Yet she remains hopeful. 鈥淚t just takes people who have a voice to use it, and now they鈥檙e beginning to, which is huge,鈥� she said.

Even after she leaves the professional team, she will continue to play basketball, she said.

鈥淏asketball has been the constant in my life, no matter what. If I thought I had a bad test, I鈥檇 go to the gym and shoot. If I was going through something personally with friends or family, I鈥檇 go to the gym and shoot.听

鈥淚t's just always been there for me, and it has never disappointed me.鈥�

(Photos of George, Bretscher and Baker-Watson: Brittney Way. Kopp photo: Michael Eichhorn.)听

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