Part 2
Ohio's Transition into Title IX
Embedded Files
Above: An O.U. volleyball game at the Grover Center, 1975. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
The lack of financial backing was an ongoing issue for Ohio women’s athletics. That continued heading into the 1970s. Under Athletics Director Bill Rohr, the eight women's sports were given just over
$1,000
in an athletic budget of
$582,000.
And then came June 23, 1972, when U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the following into law:
"No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
Not only did the overall participation numbers in women’s athletics soar after Title IX, but Ohio University offered a little more than $150,000 in scholarships to about 130 female athletes by the 1980-81 school year.
Title IX legislation allowed women to pursue new opportunities like athletic training. Alice McNeill (left) was one who took advantage of it.
The biological science major was a trainer for the O.U. field hockey, women’s basketball, and softball teams in the late '70s. She was also one of the first female trainers to work with the football team.
Left: McNeill at work during the 1977-78 school year. From the 1978 Spectrum Green yearbook. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
But the road to get to that point wasn’t easy ... and it was still far from perfect.
Women’s teams at O.U. still suffered from a lack of financial support right after Title IX passed. Aside from basketball, teams were not provided with athletic trainers, supplies, or any medical help. Injured players had to go to the Hudson Health Center on the Athens campus to get treated. Coaches and players needed their own transportation and paid for travel expenses, like food, for away games.
The women's basketball team was given a $500 budget from the university for the 1972-73 season. Only 17 cents were left at the end of the year.
A total of 427 student-athletes represented Ohio University in the 1975-76 academic year. Here is the scholarship allocation of that batch:
176 of 332 male athletes (53%) received $302,226 in total aid
19 of 95 female athletes (20%) received $9,600 in total aid
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Information provided by Kim Brown, O.U. Libraries. Chart made by Darayus Sethna.
A graphic in the Oct. 11, 1978, edition of The Post showed the allocation of the O.U. athletic department’s budget. Women comprised around a quarter of the total athletic participants, but received only one-seventh of the total financial aid.
Ohio failed to meet the deadline for Title IX compliance in 1978.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Women faced many hurdles as a result of insufficient funds. That included having to use inadequate, out-of-date equipment and poorly maintained facilities.
Julie Zdanowicz was a lacrosse and field hockey player at O.U. in the late '70s. Her teams practiced and hosted games at the field on Mill Street (which today is used for intramural activities).
Julie Zdanowicz, from the 1980 Spectrum Green yearbook. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
“In field hockey we would lose the ball in holes, or the grass would cover the ball. This hindered play and practice.”
Julie Zdanowicz, from an email
Zdanowicz also mentioned that the changing room near the field was made of cinder blocks with a toilet that didn’t work.
An O.U. Field Hockey game at the field on Mill Street, 1979. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Today, the field is used for intramural activities at O.U.
Photo by Darayus Sethna.
Other inequities included having to base practice times off the men’s teams’ schedules, a lack of media coverage, and limited food options (i.e. fast food) on road trips.
Above: The O.U. women’s track team shared its equipment room as extra storage for old tires of university-owned vehicles. Photo from The Post, 1980. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
The field hockey and softball teams even shared the same locker room as recently as the ‘90s.
Those inequities continued at the turn of the century, including when players on the field hockey team had to board a bus in the early morning and practice at a West Virginia high school – all because they did not have sufficient field conditions in Athens.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Each female coach hired by Ohio University in the early years of Title IX oversaw two teams. Gwen Hoover (left) was the O.U. head women’s basketball and volleyball coach from 1978-81.
Despite the university providing assistant coaching opportunities on its women’s teams during that time, none of them received a paycheck.
Dr. Catherine Brown (1932-2012)
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
There may not be a more influential figure who advocated for equity in women’s sports at Ohio University than
Dr. Catherine Brown.
The hall of fame coach was raised in Ireland, where she developed into a star athlete and represented her nation in the Field Hockey World Cup from 1953-64. She also spent time as a coach and physical education professor.
Dr. Brown visited Athens for the first time in 1964 and accepted an offer to work at O.U. a year later. She established two new varsity teams upon her arrival – women's lacrosse and track and field. Dr. Brown even served as an assistant on the women’s basketball team.
In 1968, she began her tenure as head coach of the field hockey team – accumulating a 25-7-5 record and conceding only one loss in her last two seasons at the helm. Dr. Brown was also O.U.'s lacrosse head coach from 1970-76.
It was during this time when Dr. Brown attained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from O.U. She earned her Ph. D. at Ohio State.
Dr. Brown arrived in Athens at a time when women still had to pay for their own physical exams and played on teams that were not equipped with first aid supplies or athletic trainers. She led the charge to establish WICA in 1971. More specifically, she wrote a statement to Ohio University saying she refused to coach or advise sports unless she and her colleagues could get release time or respectable compensation for the multiple jobs they had.
Dr. Brown received the signatures needed to ultimately form WICA and became the organization's first coordinator in May 1971.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
In 1996, the same year as her retirement from O.U., Dr. Brown received the Donna Chen Equity Award from the university’s Women’s Studies Department for her efforts and perseverance towards gender equity.
“If there is 55 percent women on this campus, then 55 percent of the funding for athletics should go to women’s sports. It’s just simple math.”
Dr. Brown to The Post, 1996
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Dr. Brown coached at O.U. for over 30 years. She is a member of the Kermit Blosser Hall of Fame and the Ohio Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
Outside her contributions to the university, Dr. Brown worked with the Athens Business and Professional Club, was president of the Ohio Physical Education Association, an O.U. Faculty Senate member, and participant in the Athens Garden Club.
Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Interview with Kim Brown
Much of the information about Title IX on this website would not have been possible without the help and consideration of Kim Brown.
Kim Brown at her home in Athens, 2024. Photo by Darayus Sethna.
Brown was a colleague of Dr. Catherine Brown during the early years of Title IX. She came to Athens in 1978 after playing for the U.S. women’s field hockey squad – accepting the roles of head coach for the O.U. field hockey and softball teams. Brown coached softball for one year before replacing it with lacrosse, which she coached until 1982 (when the sport was cut from the athletic budget).
Equity was a major issue when Brown first came to Athens. She experienced that firsthand – more specifically with the conditions of the field on Mill Street, the limited equipment, and having to take out her own vehicle insurance for road trips.
Above: Brown (left) talks with an assistant coach. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Left: Brown coaches field hockey, 1978. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Along with her coaching roles, Brown worked as an academic advisor for O.U.’s athletic department – eventually taking on a full-time position in 1989. She retired from Ohio University in 2000.
I sat down with Brown at her Athens home in October of 2024. Part of our conversation included some of the struggles she dealt with as a coach and administrator at O.U.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Brown (far right) addresses the O.U. field hockey team, 1978. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
Another topic Brown discussed was the profound respect she had for Dr. Catherine Brown. She explained Dr. Brown’s influence in bringing her to O.U. and her lasting impact on women’s athletics at the university.
Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Dr. Brown (left) with Kim Brown. Courtesy of Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries.
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