Bernice Sandler, known as “The Godmother of Title IX,” gave a lecture at 7 p.m. on March 4, in the Harper Center Hixson-Lied Auditorium.
The free and open to the public lecture, titled “We’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, but not far enough: Progress and Problems of Women in Higher Education,” gave an overview on how Title IX and other policies have impacted women in higher education. Title IX is the portion of the Education Amendments of 1972 that makes the discrimination based on gender in regards to education and government aid unconstitutional. Sandler also spoke about issues that still need attention in today’s higher education environment, including women acquiring leadership positions on their campuses.
Sandler is a senior scholar at the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, D.C. She also serves as an expert witness in discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Sandler is an expert in the field of women’s rights as she has given over 2500 presentations and written more than 100 articles.
Sandler said in her talk that the largest part of overcoming gender prejudices is simply to gain awareness that it is happening. She pointed back to one of her most famous quotes taken during the Discrimination Against Women hearings before the House of Representatives in 1989.
“Sex prejudice is so ingrained in our society that many who practice it are simply unaware that they are hurting women,” Sandler said. “It is the last socially acceptable prejudice.”
Sandler called upon Creighton students to question in what ways they are furthering sex prejudice.
Arts & Sciences sophomore Carly Docter said she thinks that Creighton is doing a fair job supporting both sexes on campus.
“I think that Creighton is pretty balanced in the way that men and woman are viewed, due to the fact that women are over-represented in the student population,” Docter said. “I believe that both genders experience similar opportunities at CU, especially in leadership positions.”
Arts & Sciences freshman Kerri Delaney agreed that Creighton has created an equal playing field for both sexes and feels as though she is respected as a student and person on campus.