At times it can be useful to look back at the experiences that have defined us, as individuals or as a community, to see where our journeys have taken us and what those experiences have taught us. June 2012 marked such an occasion, when American men and women were reminded of the strides taken toward gender equality in sports brought about by Title IX, a public law that sought to secure greater opportunities for women in education and sports. On this occasion, Aquinas reflected on its own history of inclusivity, even prior to the Title IX initiative.

At the 40th anniversary of the Title IX decision, athletes around the country are looking back at the former state of women’s athleticism and how it contrasts to the many programs offered today. Noting that girls who play in sports have higher likelihoods of academic success, President Obama shared these thoughts on the impact of gender-equal athleticism in the United States. “40 years ago, committed women from around the country, driven by everyone who said they couldn’t do something, worked with Congress to ban gender discrimination in our public schools,” the President wrote in a Newsweek op-ed. “Title IX was the result of their efforts, and this week, we celebrated its 40th anniversary - 40 years of ensuring equal education, in and out of the classroom, regardless of gender.

Within the Aquinas community, gender equality in athletics has always been an important element to our many sports programs. Even before the advent of Title IX, Aquinas strived to provide equal opportunities for women athletes with a passion for competitive sports. Through the help of its own pioneers, Aquinas was at the forefront of this movement and has continued to support and celebrate its athletes, regardless of gender.

Among those pioneers, Aquinas College Women’s Basketball Coach Linda Nash lived first-hand the discouraging state of women’s sports prior to Title IX, and even in the first years following its institutionalization. “I look back at my experience in 1978, which was post-Title IX and going to a public institution... I don’t know that things were followed as close as they were now.” Of the concrete differences between the men’s and women’s athletic programs during Coach Nash’s first collegiate years, she said, “We were in a van, they were in a bus. We didn’t get new uniforms.”

Coach Nash is quick to commend Aquinas for its work in equality, “Certainly here at Aquinas... Terry [Bocian, Director of Athletics for Aquinas College], with him being the athletic director through all of those years - I think he’s always been very fair and very sensitive to keeping an even balance and not having one team have more than the other. I don’t think that happened overnight. I think that has been a big part of who we are at Aquinas.”

When asked about the role of equality in the Aquinas sports experience, Bocian said, “One thing we’ve always done at Aquinas - and I’ve been athletic director since 1978 - is we’ve always funded our sports equally. The resources that we have for those comparative sports are the same. A lot of schools did not operate that way. The women had very little. The men had quite a bit.”

Aquinas College has been at the forefront of equality, even before that equality was won through political activism for public colleges. “If you look at the Dominican tradition, and the reasons that the school was founded… as athletics director, I want to look each student in the eye and be sincere about the fact that we are doing everything we can to give them the resources they need,” said Bocian. “I feel proud about the fact that the school, in the time that I’ve been here, that we’ve made that a mandate.”

Just as important as continued work toward gender equality, is remembering where we’ve come from and what inspired us to strive for something better. Patti Tibaldi, former Aquinas women’s basketball coach, feels it’s important to be thankful for the equality already won. Coach Tibaldi recalled a recent conference where young women athletes were asked their thoughts on Title IX. “I was stunned,” she said. “Most of them were saying to each other, ‘What’s Title IX?’ It was such a huge, huge decision. It really changed the face of opportunities for women. From my generation, it was just an enormous change.”