Last
night—watching the final moments of the NCAA National Championship—I knew I had won my
annual March Madness office pool. And I have an unhealthy love of rain boots.
I like the
stories that come from the weird sources of funds that feed my addiction.
I
considered buying rain boots, but I didn’t.
Instead,
I just donated my winnings from March Madness to Legal Voice, an organization
that 35 years ago won equal access to sports facilities and programs for the
women of Washington
State and set a national precedent.
In
Blair v. WSU, Legal Voice
represented female athletes and coaches of female athletes at Washington State University. At
the time, women’s athletic programs were receiving inferior funding,
fundraising efforts,
publicity and promotions, scholarships, facilities, equipment, coaching,
uniforms, practice clothing,
awards, and administrative staff and support.
The
case went a long way to improve the equity of opportunities at Washington
State University for women in athletics.
And
today, 35 years later,
Women’s basketball flourishes at WSU.
According
to the Seattle Times,
“WSU and Washington have more women’s
sports than men’s, and the women share state-of-the-art facilities and enjoy
other benefits
brought by Title IX, including equal money awarded in athletic scholarships.”
And while rain boots
would have been nice, I am instead saying thank you to Legal Voice for Blair v.
WSU and saying
thanks for the 35 years of securing and protecting women’s rights that have
followed.
Jamila Johnson is a litigator at Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt
and a board member of Legal Voice. She cannot play basketball, and actually
bought a book on how to run before using a treadmill for the first time.
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