Recently the City of Mountain View and the Town of Los Altos Hills issued proclamations recognizing the 50th anniversary of passage of Title IX.

The first item on the agenda for the Mountain View City Council at the meeting held at 7PM via Zoom on June 28^th was a proclamation noting the 50^th Anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, the Education Act which mandated equal opportunities in sports and academics for any institution accepting public funds.

Allyson Johnson, Executive Director of the Los Altos/Mtn. View branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) had requested the proclamation and was present to hear Mayor Lucas Ramirez read it out.  She noted that it was especially significant to mark this anniversary as this spring the girls softball teams at both Los Altos and St. Francis High Schools had won championships in their divisions, and without Title IX neither of those teams would have existed.

Vice Mayor Alison Hicks commented that when she was in high school she had wanted to run track, but there was no girls’ track team.  It meant a great deal to her to see her daughter able to participate on her school’s track team due to Title IX.

Council member Margaret Abe-Koda also spoke of her gratitude for Title IX – “thirty-seven words that changed the world” for women.” She felt that it is especially important to mark this anniversary in view of the threats to women’s rights from the recent Supreme Court decision, and to continue to encourage women to work in fields such as engineering which had been closed to them.

Council member Ellen Kamei thanked the mayor and AAUW for the proclamation, saying that “being an athlete changed my life” and without Title IX she would not have been able to have this experience.

In a follow up email, Mayor Ramirez thanked AAUW for the opportunity to make the proclamation.

Mountain View

Los Altos Hills

To see the proclamations, click on the images:

Saturday, March 19th, noon-1pm

Sponsored by the Santa Clara County AAUW Interbranch Council

Many women are unaware of Title IX, or only aware of its effect on school sports, but there is much more to learn to protect women and girls’ access to equal education. There is also progress to celebrate in its 50th anniversary year! Please invite the young women in your circle to join this webinar. Registration for the virtual event is available on Eventbrite by searching for AAUWSCC or using this QR code, or clicking here: 

Our panelists:

Danielle Slaton, Olympic medalist and Earthquake television analyst. (Moderator)

Marlene Bjornsrud, Cofounder of Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative (BAWSI) and former General Manager of San Jose CyberRays.

Lucy Jane Bledsoe, Title IX activist and award winning author. Soon to release ‘No Stopping Us Now.”

Dr. Akhila Carter-Francique, SJSU Associate Professor of African-American Studies and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Sports, Society and Social Change.