On June 23, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon signed into law Title IX, part of the Education Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that received federal funding.
One of its most notable effects was on athletics: Women’s participation in sports grew exponentially, including at Cornell, which by the fall of 1972 had more than 300 women in a dozen intercollegiate sports – more than any other college or university in the state of New York.
But passage of Title IX was far from the beginning of women’s athletics on East Hill. From two-time national fencing champion Elizabeth Ross, Class of 1930, to triathlon Olympic and World Championship Series medalist Taylor Knibb ’20, women have a long history of athletic accomplishment at Cornell.
