LIHU‘E — Beverly Tobias of the American Association of University Women, Kaua‘i, accepted a mayoral proclamation from Mayor Derek Kawakami Monday celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, more commonly known as Title IX.
“This is important,” Tobias said. “The actual date for Title IX was on June 23, and it protects the rights of students. Title IX guarantees that everyone has the right to education.”
The Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity Education Act, according to a release from the state House majority, transformed schools and universities nationwide by prohibiting educational institutions from receiving federal funds if they discriminated on the basis of sex in admission, recruitment, financial aid, housing or athletics.
Kawakami’s proclamation said Title IX has, in the 50 years since its passage, expanded opportunities for women and girls in sports, and in the science, technology, engineering and math fields, and improved protections for pregnant and parenting students.
According to AAUW research, 56 percent of female students, and 40 percent of male students in grades 7 through 12, and two-thirds of college students, experience sexual harassment, the proclamation states.
Girls have 1.2 million fewer chances to play sports in high school than boys, and less than two-thirds of Black and Hispanic girls play sports, while more than three-quarters of white girls do.
In areas outside of athletics, only 21 percent of engineering majors, and 19 percent of computer-science majors, are women, and the rate of women’s enrollment in certain nontraditional careers remains at low levels, with some fields well below 25 percent.
The U.S. Department of Education announced in 2021 that it would interpret and enforce Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and on gender identity that AAUW considers an important step to ensure protections for LGBTQ+ students.
“I’m just hoping they don’t overturn this like how they did to other bills,” Tobias said, inferring to the recent Supreme Court decision that overturned the Wade vs. Roe abortion-rights decision.
Pregnant and parenting students are often steered toward separate, less-rigorous schools, and the U.S. Department of Education has worked to systematically dismantle Title IX protections in recent years by rescinding multiple important guidance documents in 2017, and releasing a new rule in 2020 with significant harmful implications for students’ civil rights and federal enforcement of Title IX, the proclamation states.
The proposed changes to current Title IX regulations would not be enforced until 2024, leaving students and survivors of sexual harassment and violence without the resources and support they need now, said the AAUW.
The AAUW has continued to fight efforts to weaken Title IX for the past five decades and advance educational equality and achieve the full promise of Title IX.
This continuing fight honors the efforts of the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink of Hawai‘i, and Louise Slaughter in promoting the Gender-Equity Education Act of 2021 that ensures that schools and educational institutions have the resources they need to comply with this landmark civil-rights law.
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
Patsy T. Mink wanted to protect the rights of young Chinese American girls in school. It spread to anyone being affected. 1972. I understood her view. This law is still around. Even at UH Manoa. Or any University with sports.