THE BLACK & WHITE TIME CAPSULE

Some names have been changed to protect students’ privacy.

The year was 1967. Senior Phyllis Lerner was called to the auditorium stage to receive the “Outstanding Girl Athlete” award. She had excelled in girls “Honor Teams” all throughout her high school years, but still she was shocked when her name echoed across the room.

In an eager haze, Lerner made her way up the stairs and collected her prize — a cheap plastic box, she said, that held a small pin atop a blue foam base.

Moments later, Lerner’s enthusiasm was extinguished; she watched the male recipient of the same award step onto the stage and collect a Division I college scholarship, a giant trophy and an envelope with a check from the Whitman Service Club, Whitman’s version of a booster program at the time. Only one thought was at the forefront of Lerner’s mind: this was completely unfair.

“That was a transformative moment for me,” Lerner said.

Lerner has spent her career advocating for women’s equality, specifically in regards to Title IX — a federal civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs that are funded by the federal government. Passed in 1972, Title IX sought to transform school athletic programs nationally and has come with mixed results.

Gender disparities in sports predate the law and persist in spite of it, whether it be in the funding and accessibility to resources, salary, fanbase or the way people perceive players and teams in general. Even today, most sports fans say they prefer to watch a men’s match over women’s; according to the National Research Group and Ampere Analysis, while interest in women’s sports is growing, 79% of sports fans in the United States do not actively follow women’s sports.

At Whitman, the gap between boys and girls sports dates back several decades. When Lerner attended Whitman, there were no varsity-level sports available for girls. Instead, she and her female classmates were given the opportunity to participate in “Honors Teams,” which did not involve tryouts and practiced up to twice a week after school. There were no official coaches, uniforms, referees or matches. Even so, Lerner played numerous sports for Whitman in-