License to Thrive

Title IX and Fresno State

Ms. Magazine's Spring 2008 issue contains a story which highlights the battles fought by three women on the campus of Fresno State University.  "Full Court Press" details the events and challenges faced by Diane Milutinovich, Lindy Vivas and Stacy Johnson-Klein.  As a result of these three cases, Freson State has been ordered to pay millions of dollars in jury verdicts and an out-of-court settlement.  A fourth woman, softball coach Margie Wright, has hired legal counsel to deal with her gender-equity complaints against the school.  Despite this, the article goes on to say, administrators on the campus still don't "get it."

Each of the women, two of them coaches and one a longtime women's athletic director, had complained about gender inequity in the sports department including facilites, travel expenditures, and marketing of the women's teams.   In the article, each highlights the events, conversations and actions which led them to take action against the school.  Throughout their respective ordeals, all noted the camraderie and support that they provided to each other in the face of retaliation and criticism from the school.  All three women are no longer at Fresno State.

To learn more about the story, go to www.msmagazine.com.