50 years ago Title IX was passed into law. That act altered the course for women's athletics and will continue to shape the future of them. Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Rutgers University-Newark boasts seven women's sports which is equivalent to the seven men's sports. Women's sports have flourished at Rutgers-Newark as they currently hold the most recent New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship for the university in women's basketball which came during the 2018-19 season. The women's track & field team continues to re-write the record books for the university as well.
With the celebration of Title IX we recently sat down with former track & field 3x All-American, Mercedes Glover to get her perception of the law and how it has affected women's sports.
"Title IX has massively impacted my career in athletics," said Mercedes Glover. "It gave me the opportunity to compete at the highest level and thrive whereas in the past I may not have had that opportunity. It helped push women's sports into the light and give them the recognition they deserved."
During her time at Rutgers-Newark, Glover thrived in the javelin. The javelin category in the record books should be renamed Glover as she holds 9 of the top 10 best throws in school history. Glover's best throw came in 2015 where she recorded a throw of 47.68m (156.43 ft). In that same seasons, Glover placed 2nd at nationals to claim her 3rd All-American nod.
"Sports hold a special place in my heart, in fact, I came out of retirement recently to help coach high school girls in track & field. Most recently, I had two student-athlete's qualify for the junior Olympics and without the implementation of Title IX, none of this would have been possible."
Women's sports still has ground to make up, however, they're now moving in the right direction. You can see with how the Women's Soccer US National Team is now getting equal pay with the men and how the softball College World Series earned more viewers on ESPN than the baseball College World Series.
"Continuing to put the correct people in power in athletics that have clean heart and have a great vision will only continue to help push women's sports into the spotlight even more."
