Part VIII: A New Agenda (1980–1990)

Abstract

This is the eighth of nine segments designed to commemorate the NAGWS Centennial, 1889–1999. This segment will focus on the accomplishments of ten past-presidents who served from 1980 to 1990. The 1980s saw a major setback to Title IX, when the Grove City College decision interpreted Title IX as applying only to the specific program or activity earmarked for federal assistance, and not to the institution or school as a whole (Mottinger, 1988). NAGWS actively lobbied for the passage of the Civil Rights Restoration Act. This act would reinterpret Title IX more broadly, as Congress had originally intended, prohibiting educational institutions from discriminating based on sex. In 1983, the NCAA co-opted the AIAW (which had been born from NAGWS in 1979) and began to oversee women's intercollegiate athletics. As the last AIAW presidents, the following individuals placed their mark on the shaping of women's intercollegiate athletics: Christine Grant (1980–1981), Donna Lopiano (1981–1982), Merrily Baker (1982–1983), and Virginia Hunt (1983 elect). With the NCAA takeover of intercollegiate sport for women, challenges continued for the control of the rules for girls’ and women's sport. By the end of the 1980s. NAGWS stopped publishing the rules for women's basketball. The National Federation published the high school rules, while the NCAA published the collegiate rules (Hult. 1991). In 1983, NAGWS, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), and the Women's Sports Foundation sponsored a major conference, “The New Agenda: A Blueprint for the Future of Women's Sports,” which led to the creation of National Girls and Women in Sports Day. NAGWS continued its strong bond with the USOC and the National Governing Bodies. By the end of the decade. NAGWS was redefining its role in equity for girls and women in sport. With a steady decrease in the number of women in leadership positions in sport, NAGWS was ready to focus on increasing female leadership in the athletic arena.—Shawn Ladda, Manhattan College, Feature Editor.