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

By Neil R. Kasiak

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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 4: Publications and Miscellaneous Materials

Barcode: 31234014044646

Folder 1: WSF Publications, no date, 1985-92: The items in this folder are all publications that were developed and/or sponsored by the national WSF between 1985 and 1992. They consist primarily of pamphlets or bound publications that the WSF developed for distribution at conferences or in nationwide mailings or distributions.
Folder 2: WSF Publications, 1993-97: The items in this folder are all publications that were developed and/or sponsored by the national WSF between 1993-97. They consist primarily of pamphlets or bound publications that the WSF developed for distribution at conferences or in nationwide mailings or distributions.
Folder 3: WSF Conference Publications, 1986-87, 1989, 1991, 1994-96, 1999-2000: The items in this folder are all publications that were developed and/or sponsored by the WSF in anticipation of being distributed at conferences. Much like box four folders one and two in this collection they consist primarily of pamphlets or bound publications and programs. However, they were separated because they can be categorized as distinct conference publications, rather than generic mass produced pamphlet materials.
Folder 4: KCSE Publications, 1986, 1987, 2000-2001: The items in this folder are all publications that were developed and/or sponsored by the KCSE between 1986 and 2001. They consist primarily of pamphlets and bound publications that KCSE developed for distribution at conferences. There are limited KCSE publications which leads one to believe that the organization depended heavily on outside publications and pamphlets for information exchanges between organizers and members.
Folder 5: Miscellaneous Publications, no date, 1984, 1987, 1989-91, 1994-2001: The items in this folder are all publications that were developed by outside organizations between the years of 1984 and 2001. They consist primarily of pamphlets or bound publications that particular state, private or federal agencies or organizations created in response to sports equity changes. The items include, but are not limited to, NCAA reports, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Pupil Nondiscrimination Guidelines for Athletics, the Colorado Dept. of Education's "A Working Model for the Equity Professional", or "The Inside Track", an Oregon Women's Sport's Leadership newsletter. All the materials highlight national trends in sports equity and, presumably, the KCSE and KWSF organizers' use of outside resources when developing their programs.
Folder 6: Miscellaneous Articles, Clippings, and Papers: All the items that are in this folder were a part of the numerous d-ring binders that housed the KCSE records upon donation. Items include newspaper clipping that were unrelated to any particular document set but valuable to understanding what developments KCSE or KWSF organizers kept tabs on, relevant articles that members submitted in reports or via correspondence, position papers, and numerous other documents of no significant value to the collection, but of greater value to the overall content that the collection represents.
Folder 7: Miscellaneous Meetings and Conferences: All of the documents in this folder are unrelated to the KCSE or KWSF organizations, however, they do pertain to girls and women's sports and athletics. For instance, although the Michigan High School Athletics Association materials are not related directly with either the KCSE or KWSF, they do shed light on what similar equity organizations were doing in their respective communities.
Folder 8: Miscellaneous Biographies, Lists and Resumes: The items in this folder include resumes, bios, and other identity information. The materials provide a clear snapshot of the career paths that equity advocates took while pursuing their goals.