Barack Obama, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and John McCain have all expressed varying levels of support for Title IX, the landmark law that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funds. But Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate and point guard for the 1982 Alaska state high-school basketball champion team, is the only one of the four candidates to have directly felt Title IX’s benefits.
“I’m a product of Title IX, also, where we had equality in schools that was just being ushered in with sports and with equal opportunity for education, all of my life,” Governor Palin told ABC News’s Charles Gibson when asked whether someone can raise a family and be vice president. “I’m part of that generation, where that question is kind of irrelevant, because it’s accepted. Of course you can be the vice president and you can raise a family.”
Created in 1972, 10 years before Governor Palin’s team won the state championship, Title IX is credited with increasing participation in and support of women’s athletics, particularly at the college level.
In an interview in May, before selecting Governor Palin as his running mate, Senator McCain offered only a tepid endorsement of Title IX.
He noted that “the positive effects of the law are indisputable,” but he lamented the fact that “many schools have adopted policies of strictly equal funding for male and female athletic programs,” leading to some programs being cut.
Although Governor Palin’s jump shot didn’t land her on the college court, she certainly took advantage of the way Title IX bolstered women’s athletics.
Aside from the basketball court, she also ran hurdles and relays on the track team, was a setter on her junior-high-school volleyball team, and played softball in a summer league.
Sports have played a big part in Governor Palin’s campaign speeches, where she frequently mentions her basketball days, as well as her self-described life as a “hockey mom.” Senator Obama’s pickup basketball games have also been well-noted throughout the campaign.
