June 23, 1972: Title IX

June 23, 1972: President Richard Nixon signs the Education Amendments of 1972 into law. This includes Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school, or any other education program, that receives funding from the federal government.

Title IX of these amendments was meant to update Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned several forms of discrimination in employment, but did not address or mention discrimination in education.

Senator Birch Bayh (pronounced like "Bye") of Indiana introduced an amendment to the Higher Education Act on August 6, 1971. Representative Edith Green of Oregon introduced a similar bill in the House of Representatives on May 11, 1972. A conference committee agreed to accept Bayh's text, which became famous as "The 37 Words":

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 receiving Federal financial assistance.

When Title IX was passed in 1972, only 42 percent of the students enrolled in American colleges were female. The introduction of Title IX was followed by a considerable increase in the number of female students participating in organized sports within American academic institutions, followed by growing interest in initiating and developing programs which would pursue feminist principles in relationship to concerns surrounding issues dealing with girls and women's equality and equity in sport.

Nixon's signing of the bill wasn't his only notable action of the day. He also sealed his doom as President, in a meeting with his White House Chief of Staff, recorded for posterity. I have a separate entry for that event.

Bayh had written Title IX with an eye toward possibly running for President in 1972. He didn't. He ran in 1976, but didn't get far in the Democratic Primaries. His son, Evan Bayh, later served Indiana as both Governor and Senator.

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June 23, 1972 was a Friday. Soccer legend Zinedine Zidane was born. And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Fritz Peterson outpitched Milt Wilcox. Bernie Allen hit a home run.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 7-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench hit a home run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Steve Blass outpitched Fergie Jekins. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs. Willie Stargell went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-2 with a walk.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Paul Splittorff pitched a 7-hit shutout, outpitching Jim Perry. Harmon Killebrew and Rod Carew, the Twins' future Hall-of-Famers, each got 2 of those hits.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Frank Robinson, in his only season with the Dodgers, hit his 513th career home run. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 2-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Nolan Ryan outpitched Dave Hamilton. Reggie Jackson hit a home run.

* The Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers were rained out at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Orioles won the opener, 3-1. Dave McNally outpitched Mickey Lolich. The Tigers won the nightcap, 2-1. Ed Brinkman won it with a sacrifice fly in the to of the 12th inning. Joe Coleman went 11 innings for the win, while Doyle Alexander lost it in relief of Mike Cuellar.

Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 0-for-8, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly; while Al Kaline went 2-for-8 with a walk.

* And the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Shea Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 8. The Mets won the 1st game, 8-2. The Cards won the 2nd game, 9-4. The Met bullpen melted down in the top of the 13th inning, including giving up home runs to Ted Simmons and Dwain Anderson.