Kentucky Sports Equity Project, 1984-2013 | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

By Neil R. Kasiak

Printer-friendly |

Collection Overview

Title: Kentucky Sports Equity Project, 1984-2013

Primary Creator: Kentucky Sports Equity Project (1986-2013)

Other Creators: Citizens for Sports Equity (1984-2013)

Extent: 1.75 Cubic Feet

Arrangement: Unless noted, all materials are arranged chronologically. When possible duplicates are included if they contain handwritten notes that add an additional layer of content to the collection. Although correspondence is arranged and foldered first by organization and then by level of involvement (i.e. board, committee, etc.), some correspondence remains with the original document sets in which the collection was received.

Date Acquired: 11/02/2013

Subjects: Athletics., Citizens for Sport Equity, Scholarships., Title IX., Women's sports., Women's Sports Foundation (WSF)

Languages: English

Abstract

The documents in this collection represent the dedicated grassroots movement that local girls and women's sports advocates developed in response to the sports equity component of the Title IX Statute of the Educational Amendments of 1972. The Kentucky Citizens for Sports Equity (KCSE), as the organization came to be known after an August, 1992 name change, helped to raise awareness for local Kentucky girls, coaches, officials, and administrators. The KCSE also attempted to organize and highlight girls sports participants and volunteers in order to address equity concerns. KCSE recognition events networked members and participants with other sports equity proponents, and, more specifically, they underscored the performance of Kentucky's girls sports participants, officials, advocates and volunteers. The KCSE quickly organized prominent local women into leadership roles, and their subsequent actions helped to advance and institutionalize sports equity in Kentucky. KCSE goals and efforts are reflected in the numerous banquets and events that recognized female participants and volunteers. The organization's regular events attempted to sync local Kentucky equity programs with other state and national sports equity movements. In particular, the KCSE collection captures the numerous conferences, awards banquets and grant programs that were promoted and offered in conjunction with a healthy working relationship with both the Kentucky Education Department (KED) and the Kentucky chapter of the Women's Sports Foundation (KWSF). The KCSE and KWSF promoted equity and opportunity in female sports in Kentucky through recognizing individual performance and leadership abilities.

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The following collection contains correspondence, documents, and publications from the Citizens for Sports Equity Project, a United States Department of Education funded program that initially functioned under the Women Educational Equity Act (WEEA). The collection also contains materials from the Kentucky Women's Sports Foundation (KWSF), a subsidiary of a nationally recognized foundation that sought "to improve the physical, mental and emotional well-being of all females" through instituting educational services that addressed women's athletics and other relevant social issues.

More than ten years after the organizing board signed off on the original articles of incorporation, Brigid DeVries, the acting KCSE President, explained the KCSE's goals best when she detailed how the organization was "designed to recruit, train, motivate, and promote women to fill leadership positions in sports and athletics." [2013-020-b.1-f.1] During the same year, Dr. Agnes Chrietzberg commented that "the purpose of the organization [was] to provide a network for [the] promotion of sports for girls and for [the] advancement of women in sports leadership." [2013-020-b.1-f.2]

Based on the evidence in the following collection, KCSE fulfilled DeVries' stated goals by sponsoring numerous awards luncheons and conferences that provided Kentucky women with an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals, as well as other equity organizations. In general, the collection reflects how the Title IX ruling resulted in grassroots efforts that continued well beyond 1972.

Collection Historical Note

The documents in this collection underscore the public maneuvers that girls and women's sports advocates took to overcome the male dominated fields of coaching and organizing women's sports programs in Kentucky. In addition to focusing attentions on stimulating local citizenry participation in Title IX compliance, Kentucky Citizens for Sports Equity (KCSE), with the help of the Kentucky Women's Sports Foundation (KWSF), also emphasized relevant programs and strategies that attempted to remove the rampant disparities between men's and women's sports programs at the high school and, to a lesser extent, collegiate levels. All the related materials capture the outstanding efforts that local Kentucky women put forth in their attempts to raise public and private awareness.

The Kentucky Sports Equity Project Collection underscores the methods that community members developed in response to the Title IX ruling. The collection also highlights local advocates' volunteer driven approach to resource allocation, such as funding opportunities and potential protocols for measuring Title IX compliance. KCSE organizers, such as Teresa Ann Isaac, Dr. Martha Mullins, and Brigid DeVries, maintained a steady focus on achieving sports equity in Kentucky. The materials in this collection also highlight the volunteer driven dedication that many women depended on when they began challenging the relatively weak public and political support that girls and women experienced in sports. The numerous conferences, luncheons, and awards ceremonies that are documented in the collection allows researchers to reconstruct a clear narrative for the unwavering efforts that Kentucky women put forth in pursuing equity in all fields of girls and women's sports.

In addition to the KCSE records that are housed in this collection there are also numerous folders that contain Kentucky Women's Sports Foundation materials. The KWSF worked closely with KCSE under many circumstances. The KWSF shared membership and sometimes held awards luncheons in conjunction with KCSE events, mainly due to the inclusive and grassroots nature of the two organizations. In respects to developing an accessible grant program for young female athletes, the KWSF served as the main financial resource for KCSE grant program connections, and both organizations worked together to promote common interests. The KWSF records that are housed in this collection compliment the KCSE materials in such a way that researchers may have trouble distinguishing between the two organizations. Perhaps the least represented in the collection, but nonetheless important, are the roles that Wendy Poore and Mary Marshall of the Kentucky Education Department played in organizing the appropriate funding opportunities that each organization promoted and utilized.

Of special local interest are the records addressing a Montgomery County sports equity investigation that took place in 1993-94, and the KWSF and KCSE materials that trace their involvement with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. The collection consists primarily of documents that relate to unique conferences, awards ceremonies, and luncheons. The organizations day to day functions are captured in the newsletters and minutes that detail how volunteer dependent and grant supported groups mobilized vigilance and action committees to improve potential outcomes for a growing Kentucky girls and women's sports culture.

*Special Note: There are many other organization records housed in the EKU Special Collections and Archives that relate to this collection. For instance, Drs. Mullins and Chrietzberg are both prominent in a variety of collection such as, but not limited to, the Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) Records (1981-024), KWIC Records (1981-038), AIAW Region II Records (1983-010) and the EKU Women's Gymnastics Program Records (2002-038), and Ms. DeVries's public presence and longstanding career in prominent leadership roles is reflected in both the KCSE and Kentucky High School Athletics Association collections.

Biographical Note

The Kentucky Sports Equity Project developed into the Kentucky Citizens for Sports Equity (CSE), an organization that worked closely with the KHSAA and Women's Sports Foundation, as well as other organizations that addressed equity in athletics and other social issues.

Subject/Index Terms

Athletics.
Citizens for Sport Equity
Scholarships.
Title IX.
Women's sports.
Women's Sports Foundation (WSF)

Administrative Information

Repository: Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives

Acquisition Source: Mullins, Martha

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Box:

[Box 1: KCSE Main Materials],
[Box 2: KCSE Main Materials (cont.), and Conferences and Luncheons],
[Box 3: KWSF Main Materials],
[Box 4: Publications and Miscellaneous Materials],
[Box 5: Miscellaneous (cont.) and KCSE Financials],
[All]

Box 3: KWSF Main Materials

Box three contains KWSF newsletters and correspondence, grant program materials and a folder that captures the working relationship between KWSF organizers and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. The Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) materials that are included in this box underscore the close relationships that Kentucky sports equity organizations maintained with other relevant groups.

Barcode: 31234014044653

Folder 1: KWSF Minutes (Events Subcommittee/Community Awards Program), 1993-99

The minutes reports in folder one highlight the internal activities of the Lexington, Kentucky based WSF chapter. The KWSF worked closely with the KCSE and acted alongside their grassroots efforts in such a way that they provided the community with a dual approach from the bottom up and middle out.

Folder 2: "Headway" WSF Newsletters, 1986, 1989 - 1991, 1998

The "Headway" was the official WSF national newsletter. Each issue covers women's athletics issues and exemplifies WSF strategies for improving awareness and spurring a public equity dialogue between its members and the communities they represented. Although the series is not complete there is an adequate sample that will provide valuable insight when trying to understand the WSF's national strategies and imagery.

Folder 3: KWSF Correspondence, Aug 1992 - Jan 2000

The correspondence in this folder includes internal and external communications. The topics range from basic memos or reminders to critical awards committee communications and awards program discourse. The documents in this folder include friendly internal communications to formal public invitations to outside community leaders. Some of the materials in this folder retain the order in which the document packets were received. It was determined that doing so would provide authenticity to the collection's content. All the remaining materials are arranged in chronological order.

Folder 4: KWSF Luncheon, Sponsors, and Awards Committee Lists

The items in this folder include project checklists, itemized committee responsibility sheets, awards nomination criteria and checklists, and numerous membership and participant lists. All the materials relate to the awards programs that the KWSF either sponsored or participated in at the state or national levels. The documents in this folder provide a distinct cross section of the persons that participated in KWSF activities.

Folder 5: KWSF Awards Nomination Guidelines, 1994-96, 1998-99

All items in this folder relate to the nomination process for the KWSF awards programs. The documents cover a number of years and include categorized nomination criteria, nomination fact sheets, and correspondence that relates to the nomination procedures. A few awards that are outlined with nomination sheets include, but are not limited to, the 110% Award, Sports Organization Awards, the Coach of the Year Award, and the Parent or Guardian Who Does the Most for Girls and Women in Sports Award. All of the awards revolved around promoting girls and women's sports. Each nomination was designed to build confidence and include recognition of professional and personal achievements, a mutual goal held by the KWSF and KCSE.

Folder 6: KWSF Grant Program Materials, 1992-96, 1999-2000

All the documents that are in this folder address the grant programs that the KWSF sponsored. The documents include relevant correspondence, grant application forms and criteria, as well as any other pertinent materials that are associated with the extensive KWSF grant offerings. The materials in this folder highlight how, despite sharing common goals, the KWSF provided outstanding incentives for the KCSE to work closely with and participate in WSF sponsored grant programs and events.

Folder 7: Community Action Program (CAP) Financial Materials, 1994-97, 1999

The majority of the items in this folder consist of receipts and financial reports and statements that relate to the Community Awards Program that the KWSF sponsored as a part of its organization's commitment to promoting sports equity and awareness. Generally, these financial records should be of special interest to economic or social historians who are looking into the CAP's role in the community.

Folder 8: Project Gold Materials

Project Gold attempted to increase female and minority participation in Olympic governance. The brief document set in this folder contains an introductory letter and application for the program.

Folder 9: KWSF Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, 1992, 1993-94, 1996, 1999

The materials in this folder all relate to the working relationship that the KWSF and KCSE executives maintained with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council (LFUCC), which helped with local funding programs that assisted in promoting sports equity in the community. The close working relationship the KWSF and KCSE had with the LFUCC allowed for a clear example to be set for the rest of the state. For a number of years, Teresa Ann Isaac, the acting Vice Mayor of Lexington, represented both the KCSE and KWSF interests, and her participation on all levels, from grassroots to governmental, highlights the interrelated approach that women's sport advocates took when addressing equity in Kentucky girls sports culture. The materials are predominantly correspondence.

Folder 10: KHSAA Materials

The KCSE and the KHSAA worked closely under the auspices of the awards programs the KCSE developed alongside the KWSF. Brigid DeVries was a prominent member in both the KCSE, as president, and, the KHSAA, first as the Assistant Commissioner and later as the acting Commissioner. Based on preliminary research into both the Kentucky Sports Equity Project collection and available internet resources, DeVries position in the the upper ranks of the KHSAA allowed her a distinct opportunity to provide valuable expertise that resulted in a better integrated KCSE program. The KHSAA documents in this folder consist primarily of correspondence, which is arranged chronologically. All correspondence was arranged together to highlight the working relationship that the KHSAA maintained with the KCSE. The organizations shared membership and met regularly at the KHSAA offices.

*NOTE: See KHSAA Records in the EKU Special Collections and Archives for additional KHSAA content.

Folder 11: Kemper, Hauber, Wright, Isaac v. KHSAA, 24 Apr 1986

The Franklin Circuit Court legal suit that initiated the CSE formation can be found in folder 11. The materials were part of a collection of documents that Barbara Isaac retained for her records. Since she donated the materials at a different time than the rest of the collection, the Barbara Isaac materials are contained in the remaining folders in box 3 so the original arrangement was preserved.

Folder 12: Barbara Isaac Clippings and Publications

The clippings and publications that are found in folder 12 were donated by Barbara Isaac at a different time than the rest of the KCSE collection. Consequently, the original arrangement was retained and the materials were filed separately to designate the Barbara Isaac donation.

Folder 13: Barbara Isaac Correspondence

The correspondence in folder 13 was part of the Barbara Isaac donation that occurred after the original KCSE donation. The correspondence was filed separately to highlight the materials that KCSE members regularly received during its early to latter years.