Podcast Episode - An interview with Pam Gagel - Part 2 of Our Two-part Series on Title IX

I met Pam back when I was a Deputy District Attorney working on the child support docket. She was Magistrate Gagel back then and she was hearing the child support cases. As she tells the story, we would often go at each other (in jest) because I felt like she could be lenient. In hindsight, she was always right! Pam and my colleague Emily and I would go to dinner when Pam left the bench, and it was always a fun way to connect and talk about our profession lives. From the time that I first met Pam she would talk about her work on a Title IX case Roberts v Colorado State University[1]. I must admit that I did not know much about Title IX, and that embarrasses me now. I knew from the way that she talked about it that it always meant a lot and was impactful, but I mistakenly never really asked her to walk me through it so I could learn more.

 

This podcast was meaningful to record, and throughout the whole process of putting together the podcast, I felt Title IX come alive. I grew up with team sports at school and took it for granted. I never imagined a world of not having an equal opportunity to play as the boys. It wasn’t until the past year, during the 50th Anniversary, that I learned more, and it really hit me how hard all the women before me had to work to make Title IX a reality. Pam played an important role of being an attorney on the Roberts v, Colorado State University1 case. This case was from February 1993 and Pam helped represent the plaintiffs, former members of the Colorado State University women’s varsity softball team which was terminated on June 1, 1992. She tells the story about the trials and tribulations of the case, such as the court ruling against their Motion for Injunctive Relief m in July 1992 due to plaintiff’s inability to demonstrate a substantial likelihood of success on the merits. It is in that behind-the-scenes tenacity and work where the spirit of Title IX lives.

 

YOU CAN FIND THE PODCAST ON:

SPOTIFY, APPLE PODCASTS, GOOGLE PODCASTS, IHEART RADIO, AND ANCHOR.

TRANSCRIPT of this podcast episode can be found here.

 

You can hear the passion and impact of Title IX in Pam’s voice when I ask her about her experience and what it means to her all these years later. All people, young and old, need to understand and appreciate the hard work, dedication, long hours and sacrifices made to bring Title IX into being. It is about more than just sports and had a broader impact than most people realize. As I reflected on team sports during the past two podcast, it made me realize even more that team sports aren’t just a nice to have, but a must have. From an article in Forbes, “For example, one 2013 survey that studied 821 top female executives found that 90% of them had played sports at some level while growing up. And, in fact, the percentage grew to 96% if the women were now CEOs.”[2]

 

I hope you enjoy this podcast as much I enjoyed putting it together. Let us know what you think, what questions you have, and your experiences with Title IX. Also, check out the documentary on ESPN called Three Little Words[3].

 

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Maureen LeifComment