Little Rock Athletics Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Title IX

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Little Rock's Athletic Department, in conjunction with the Ohio Valley Conference, is celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the civil rights law that has profoundly transformed opportunities within intercollegiate athletics.
 
Title IX was a major law that prohibited federally funded schools from discriminating "on the basis of sex." It was signed into law on June 23, 1972, as part of a series of Educational Amendments. The full text of Title IX states:
 
"No person in the United States 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."
 
Since the passage of Title IX, women's participation in college athletics has increased. Today, women make up 44% of all NCAA athletes (compared to 15% pre-Title IX, when fewer than 30,000 women played college sports).
 
Throughout the next year Little Rock will be recognizing great moments and top female student-athletes that have worn the Maroon and Silver and have done so thanks, in part, to the passage of Title IX.
 
The 50^th Anniversary of Title IX comes 90 years after the first recorded women's intercollegiate athletics team for the Trojans competed. In the spring of 1932, the Little Rock women's tennis schedule included games with Central College, Hendrix and other schools in the state. On April 2, 1932, the Trojan women's team composed of Katherine Strack, Eleanor Ramsey, Margaret Collier and Muriel Beaumont defeated Central College in a game at Little Rock. In a return match in Conway later in the season, the Trojans were again victorious. Elmer Stahlkopf, a faculty member, was the first coach of both the men's and women's teams that spring.
 
Since then, Little Rock women's athletic teams and student-athletes have combined to win:

• Two (2) team National Championships
• 10 Individual National Championships
• 26 team National Championship appearances
• Seven (7) Academic All-America honors
• 34 conference championships

You can read more about Little Rock's Athletic history here.
 
For the latest information on Little Rock Athletics, make sure to check out LRTrojans.com. You can also find the Trojans on social media at @LRTrojans on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
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