When Title IX was passed in 1972, it wasn’t until 1974 when the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) released a draft of regulations to enforce that legislation which would take effect on July 21, 1975. Since Penn State started women’s intercollegiate athletics eight years before, it was better positioned to support the growth of women’s teams than most colleges and universities. Many schools and the NCAA fought to have women’s athletics eliminated from Title IX legislation, but organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), the Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL), the American for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), and at the state level, the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (PSAHPER), to name a few, lobbied Congress year after year to keep it in place. Lucille Magnusson, Professor of Kinesiology, Joan Nessler, Professor of Kinesiology and coach of the women’s tennis team from 1969 to 1977 and Robert Scannell, Dean of the College of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, and others supported efforts at the University level. It wasn’t until 1987 when Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act that overturned Grove City College v. Bell from 1984, stating that recipients of federal funds must comply with civil rights laws in all areas. While women’s athletics has grown exponentially over the past fifty years, much remains to be done as many institutions are not compliant with the law.
This section documents Penn State’s coaches and administrator’s actions that supported Title IX and their efforts to keep athletics part of the legislation. Also included are Collegian articles that reported both support and opposition for the law from the mid 1970s until the mid 1980s. The links below are the collections which contain those records.
Joan Nessler
Joan Nessler was an instructor in the College of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation and was the head coach of the women’s tennis team from 1965 to 1972. She continued as an instructor after her coaching tenure, and was one of the leading proponents on campus for keeping women’s athletics as a part of Title IX legislation.
Lucille Magnusson
Lucille Magnusson was a professor in the College of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation and lobbied Congress through the 1970s to keep women’s athletics part of Title IX legislation.
Mary Jo Haverbeck
Due to the growth and success of the women’s athletic programs in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mary Jo Haverbeck was hired in 1974 as Penn State’s first female sports information director to lead the dissemination of information about the women’s teams. She served as an assistant director from 1974 to 1984 and an associate director from 1984 to 1999. In addition to her Penn State duties, Haverbeck was involved in various NCAA communications committees for men’s and women’s basketball, launched “Through the Hoop”, the first national newsletter covering Division I women’s basketball, and developed the first computerized statistical rankings for women’s basketball in 1978. She was a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and was the first woman elected to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame. Director of Athletics, Dave Joyner, stated that “Mary Jo was truly a pioneer in the athletic communications field, not only at Penn State, but nationwide.” Haverbeck also volunteered for the U.S. Olympic Committee, serving as the press officer for the US Olympic Committee in Caracas, Venezuela in 1981 and Syracuse, New York in 1983. She was also the press operations manager at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.
This memo from Mary Jo Haverbeck to Bob Scannell is an appraisal of her first few months as the first women’s sports information director. She notes that she was late in responding to Mr. Scannell’s request for this report due to increased demand for information on the women’s teams and a greater interest in women’s sports due to Title IX.
Ed Czekaj
Ed Czekaj was the Penn State Athletic Director from 1969 to 1980. He worked with Dean of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Bob Scannell, to push for women’s athletics for equal access during his tenure.
Bob Scannell
Bob Scannell was the Dean of the College of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) from 1970 to 1980, which also included oversight of Intercollegiate Athletics at that time. Due to his continuing advocacy for women’s intercollegiate athletics, Penn State was a national leader in implementing Title IX legislation.
As part of his support, Scannell testified at a hearing in front of the Congressional Sub-committee on Education, under the Committee on Labor and Public Welfare regarding support for S. 2106 which was designed to protect revenue producing capacities of various sports, helping to fund women’s athletics in 1975.
John Oswald
As President of Penn State from 1970 to 1983, John Oswald was the most influential of all the university’s administrators to push for equality in women’s athletics.
Here are links to collections and publications that document Penn State’s role and activities related to Title IX:
Intercollegiate Athletics, Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics collection
The Daily Collegian (historical)