West Chester University’s Athletics Department will host a panel discussion of Title IX on Wednesday that Amy Fadool, an award-winning sports anchor and reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia, will moderate.

Title IX is the landmark piece of gender equity legislation celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. 

Free and open to the public, “Title IX: A Chat Through the Decades” will examine the progress and challenges to Title IX. The discussion will take place on Wednesday, April 6, at 7 PM in Sykes Student Union, Ballrooms B and C, on West Rosedale Avenue. 

Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” It was signed into law June 23, 1972. 

Fadool will facilitate a discussion among five panelists who all have connections to West Chester University either as student, coach, faculty member, or administrator. Each panelist has a unique experience in that each has participated in collegiate athletics in a different decade since the passage of Title IX.

Each will share her experience as a player, as well as how sports have played a role in her career and her life. The panelists will discuss how far we have come as a nation, the challenges that have come with progress, and how much there is yet to accomplish. Panelists are: 

• Deirdre Kane (1970s), former University of Dayton Field Hockey, Women’s Basketball, and Softball athlete, and former WCU Women’s Basketball coach

• Christine Karpinski (1980s), former WCU Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse student-athlete and current faculty member and Chair of the Department of Nutrition at WCU

• Kellianne Milliner (1990s), former Villanova Softball athlete and current WCU Senior Woman Administrator and Associate Director of Athletics at WCU

• Maddy Evans (2000s), former member of the Boston Breakers and Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Professional Soccer League and Penn State University Women’s Soccer athlete and current WCU Women’s Soccer Assistant Coach 

• Juah Toe (2010s), former WCU Women’s Rugby student-athlete and 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year finalist, current graduate student at UNC Greensboro

This program is part of the university’s Diversity Speaker Series, the theme of which is “Conversations to Shape a More Inclusive Future.” 

Learn more about West Chester University.