As Millikin celebrated 50 years of Title IX, the university honored women’s athletics trailblazers | Millikin

DECATUR — Long before the Title IX legislation brought equality between women’s and men’s sports in 1972, women were participating at Millikin in a host of athletic events. 

As they took part in sports as a part in the Women’s Athletic Association (WAA), they had to have a dedication that extended well beyond just playing a game. 

Without official support from the university, these women created the experience themselves, from planning and scheduling competitions to heading to games in their own transportation on their own dime.

Uniforms were often handmade, and even when Millikin officially added a women’s basketball team in 1970 — two years before Title IX — the first team wore hand-me-down football uniforms for their initial games. 

As the university celebrated 50 years of Big Blue women’s athletics in a weekend celebration in May, a centerpiece event brought together some of those athletes who competed in the days before Title IX. Although their days in competition were decades behind them, Millikin honored them with a athletic participation letter for their contribution to Big Blue athletic history. 

Dr. Elaine Miller, a class of 1959 graduate, was named the WAA Girl of 1959 and spoke at the 50th anniversary celebration on female athletic competition at the time. 

“I remember how much I enjoyed my involvement in athletics, but I did not remember being a performance star,” Miller said.

To prepare for her speech, Miller went back and looked at her Millikin yearbooks — called the Millidek — from her time as a student. 

“(Going through the yearbook) was not only nostalgic, it was an eye opener in terms of the attention to women and athletics,” Miller said. “(In the 1959 yearbook), there were 27 pages on men’s athletics and one page about women’s athletics and one about cheerleaders. Up until about 1972, about 1% of athletic spending went to women’s sports.”

Pastor Marge Overlot, of Bethany, provided the invocation at the luncheon event and she spoke about her athletic opportunities growing up in Central Illinois in the 1950s. 

“For myself, I am certain I would have been a point guard on a basketball team early in the 50s because I was really quick. I was a cheerleader for the Pana Panthers for four years, which is just not the same thing,” Overlot said. “It is exciting to be here to show appreciation to the women who were instrumental in bringing athletic events to Millikin prior to Title IX. It is my hope that everyone in this room is proud of their accomplishments.”

Among those receiving letters were three original members of Millikin’s first women’s basketball team — Pat (McCormick) Winn, Martha (Rainous) Goller and Nelle Bradford — as well as family members of former players who had passed away. 

During Miller’s final year at Millikin, she worked as a senior assistant to the intramural program, helping to run the volleyball, badminton, softball, bowling and basketball programs. 

The version of basketball that they played then was much different and based in now outdated ideas of how women should compete in sports. 

“I believe it dated back to the 19th century, that if women overexerted themselves physically, it would be harmful to their health,” Miller said. “The rules for women’s basketball was half court and three dribbles max. So teams of six women each had three women deployed to each half of the court. There was no boxing (out) and it was a rule-intended that women’s competition was appropriately gracious.”

For Lori Kerans, the long-time former Big Blue women’s basketball coach and current Millikin’s director of major gifts, honoring those who were overlooked is the correct thing to do. 

“There were opportunities to play but there wasn’t opportunities to be recognized as an athlete as their male counterparts were,” Kerans said. “The first 50 years of our journey is about providing opportunities for women to participate as athletes. I believe the next 50 years will be where women will make their mark as coaches, as general managers, as owners, as officials and as CEOs.”