By SALINA POST
Salina Post proudly presents Flashback Friday in partnership with the Smoky Hill Museum. Enjoy a weekly tidbit of local history from the staff at Salina Post and the Smoky Hill Museum as we present "Salina-Flashback Fridays."
"I consider myself a feminist, very much so. I just feel like women should get to be what they're destined to be and do what they have the opportunities and abilities to do. And they should be paid equally."
​– Mary Virginia "Ginny" Bevan, Contact, 2019
Equal Opportunity?
Legislation such as the Civil Rights Act, Equal Rights Amendment and Title IX provided more opportunities for women. They also helped transform many educational institutions.
Title IX states that 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.
READ MORE: 📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Amy Rasher - Vol. 41
Before Title IX in 1972, athletic opportunities for women students were minimal at best. If there was any kind of a program, there certainly was no funding.
Coaches often provided the budget themselves. Female scholarships certainly did not exist, nor did recruiting. Athletes faced an ongoing stigma of doing activities not considered appropriate for women at the time.
Ginny Bevan helped pioneer the Title IX movement in Kansas. Title IX called for equity for women in programs and activities that received Federal funding.
Bevan taught physical education at Kansas Wesleyan University. As head coach, she led the basketball, volleyball, softball, tennis and track for all the women's teams.
She worked with other women collegiate coaches in Kansas. Together they help begin and achieve intercollegiate sports for women.
Before Title IX in the late 1960s, Bevan was a founding member of the Kansas Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. This organization provided rules and regulations for equity in athletics for women.
READ MORE: 📸 Flashback Friday: Salina Post - Irene Nelson Carlson - Vol. 40
Find out more about Bevan's story and the legacies of other remarkable Salina women at the Smoky Hill Museum's newest exhibit titled, "Step up to the Task" running from April 12 - Oct. 5
All exhibits at the Smoky Hill Museum are free to the public.