UCLA celebrates 40th anniversary of Title IX, success of female athletes since its passing

Cyndi Gallagher remembers the days before Title IX was passed.

Gallagher, the current coach of the UCLA swim team, also competed as a Bruin in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women ““ the national body for women’s collegiate sports at the time.

Title IX, which celebrated its 40th anniversary on June 23, allowed female athletes to compete in the NCAA instead, as well as have access to athletic scholarships. Before these changes, UCLA Athletics was a far cry from what today’s athletes experience.

“(Today’s) athletes don’t understand what it was like,” said Gallagher. “In their world, anything is possible, if you work hard you will succeed. That is how UCLA teaches them and that is how it should be.”

As for her own time as an athlete, Gallagher recalls female swimmers not having as much time in the pool as the men and having to bring their own swimsuits.

Thanks to Title IX, they were able to have more time in the pool, better team swimsuits and scholarships.

UCLA Hall of Famer Sharon Shapiro, who also competed in the AIAW, also has vivid memories of pre-Title IX competition.

During Shapiro’s time at UCLA, instead of locker rooms, the women’s gymnastics team had a green trailer outside the women’s gym parked on the grass.

Today, the team has access to John Wooden Center’s gymnastics facility and competitions in the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion.

Similarly, the UCLA softball team, which has called Easton Stadium home since 1979, was forced to compete on the Intramural Field. Female athletes also had to drive to tournaments and wear men’s practice jerseys to games.

But Shapiro says differences between the genders extended even off the field.

“The biggest memory I have was the men getting their books paid for and not the women,” said Shapiro.

As schools began to share resources between men’s and women’s programs, it affected more than just access to training facilities and scholarships. Allocating athletic funds to women’s programs for the first time meant less funding for existing sports, and programs had to be cut.

After the 1993-1994 season, UCLA planned to cut men’s swimming and both men and women’s gymnastics programs.

Because of the threat of lawsuits over Title IX regulations, UCLA chose not to eliminate the women’s gymnastics team, but followed through on canceling both men’s gymnastics and men’s swimming in 1994.

Other sports suffered budget cuts as a limited amount of funding stretched to support two times as many athletes.

“I wouldn’t want (budget cuts) for my program either,” said Carolina Paini, a rising junior on the women’s rowing team. “But if that is what is needed to prove the school wants an equal opportunity for women, then it needs to be done.”

And 40 years later, the school’s sacrifices have paid off. In that time, women’s sports have won 37 of UCLA’s 108 NCAA Division I championships, helping to establish the school’s decorated athletic reputation.

Paini, who will add to that reputation when she competes for Team USA in the World Championships in July, attributes much of her success to the opportunities provided by Title IX.

“I’m coming through UCLA; (UCLA Athletics) has helped me get here,” Paini said. “Title IX gave us a rowing team. Without that, I’d never get the opportunity to get (to this level).”