STAR-BULLETIN / 1974
Beth McLachlin was one of the anchors of the Wahine's first intercollegiate team in 1974 and, along with Joyce Kaapuni and Joey Akeo, the first all-Americans in volleyball. She went on to captain the 1976 national team that just missed the Olympics.
It was termed "cooperation before confrontation." Faith believed in
Boosters testified at Legislature
gender-equity lawsuitBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThat's how a 1976 lawsuit filed with the Department of Education in Washington, D.C., was settled. The suit, filed by state representative Faith Evans, "encouraged" the University of Hawaii to comply with Title IX in regards to women's athletics.
UH promised to implement a three-year plan in order to avoid penalties for gender discrimination.
"I was of the opinion that the way the women at UH were being treated, it was not in compliance with the law," said Evans, a 1955 graduate of Farrington High School. "There was very little being done for them. And there was such a disparity in the kinds of programs being offered.
"To say that UH was 'forced' to comply is not entirely accurate. UH agreed to certain things that, as long as they got it done, the DOE was not going to restrict the federal funding for the university. I thought they could have gone further in what was planned, but I understood where they (UH) were coming from."
It was a battle in the state Legislature that required extensive hearings. Evans said she sensed that Donnis Thompson, then the women's athletics director, was restricted in what she could tell the committee.
Ray Nagel had just replaced Paul Durham as the UH athletics director and the push was to have the men's programs playing an all-collegiate schedule and join a conference (Hawaii was admitted into the Western Athletic Conference in the fall of 1979).
"It appeared that Ray Nagel thought the whole issue was funny," Evans said. "When we asked him and others in the athletic department pointed questions, they had to tell us the truth. We found that they were not in compliance.
"I took a lot of heat for the suit but I felt it was the right thing to do. If you asked me if I'd do it all over again ... yes, in a heartbeat."
Evans didn't play sports at Farrington, but believed that if a young woman wanted to, she should have the opportunity. Having a daughter strengthened the resolved to get something done.
"My daughter Kathleen was involved in sports at Kamehameha and was quite good at soccer," Evans said. "I would like to think that the lawsuit helped her and others. I feel a lot more can be done.
"I remember when women couldn't use certain facilities at the university at certain times of the day. I began thinking, 'What kind of opportunities will my daughter have if it stays the same?' It was not hard for me to file the suit, thinking about her."
Evans, currently the chair of the Kailua Neighborhood Board, continues to follow Wahine athletics. She also retains her "very thick" file on Title IX.
"I'm sure it's hard to get everything balanced," Evans said. "I believe Stan Sheriff (the UH athletics director who died in 1993) tried to make it as equal as possible.
"We've come a long way, but we can't let up on it."
BACK TO TOP |
All women need
is an opportunityThe worst thing that one can be accused of in sports is "throwing like a girl."
"But once you get coaching, you throw just fine," said Eve Anderson.
All that women need is the opportunity. Anderson wanted to make sure that others had the opportunities she didn't, which is part of the reason she helped the Rainbow Wahine Hui booster club get started in the 1970s.
"We had a good group of women who wanted to make things better," Anderson said. "I remember going to Y. Hata to buy soda, putting it in my big fishing coolers, and selling it at Wahine volleyball.
"Donnis (Thompson, women's athletics director) was such a master at working through the problems. When the (1976) lawsuit came up, we went down and testified at the Legislature.
"There was awful fighting about the money issue for the Wahine programs, about the way tickets were sold and about why a (full-time) women's athletic director hadn't been appointed. We spoke out.
"If Donnis hadn't been there to constantly push, I don't know when anything would have been done. (Athletics director) Ray Nagle didn't want the programs. UH owes so much to Donnis," she said. "She pushed to have basketball (in 1974) because she knew that it would take off."
The lawsuit filed by Faith Evans was settled with UH promising to comply with Title IX. In 1978, it became a federal mandate that colleges had to show progress toward gender equity in athletics.
"We look at all the young women competing now and it's wonderful," Anderson said. "I sat on the Gender Equity Committee that is reaching out to the high schools to implement their gender equity plan.
"Rodney Iwasaki (athletics director at Roosevelt) is really out to get the younger grades involved. There are no sports in the junior highs here. The kids need to get out and we need to get them interested in sports."
Growing up, Anderson was outdoors. She exercised her father's polo ponies, swam at Punahou from 7th to 12th grade and eventually became the first woman to compete in the Molokai-to-Oahu solo kayak race.
"I didn't realize that no woman hadn't done it before," she said. "We spend so much time telling women that they can't do something. Instead, why not tell them, 'Let's try.' "
After graduating from Punahou in 1956, Anderson attended Mills College in California, which didn't have a swim team. When she was home, she swam at UH under the guidance of the legendary Soichi Sakamoto. Anderson also competed in the early years of the Ironman Triathlon, when it was held on Oahu.
