NIU CELEBRATES TITLE IX 50th ANNIVERSARY WITH FINAL "50 GREATS" POST

Posted By: Peyton
June 23, 2022 @ 11:40 am
Local Highlights, NIU Sports

See All 50 Online; NIU to Celebrate its Women’s Sports History October 8-9

Northern Illinois University Athletics unveiled the last name in its list of 50 Huskie greats of the Title IX era on Thursday, coinciding with the date that the landmark federal legislation was enacted into law exactly 50 years ago – on June 23, 1972. Since March 1, 2022, NIU has honored its top female student-athletes whose collegiate careers took place during the past 50 years, with three women featured each week on NIU Athletics’ social media platforms.

Today, fans can see every post, including the career highlights, of the 50 women highlighted over the last four months online at NIUHuskies.com. The posts originally appeared on NIU Athletics’ primary Facebook (NIU Huskies), Instagram (niuhuskies) and Twitter (@NIUAthletics) accounts with athletes representing the Huskies’ current women’s sports programs – basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, softball, tennis, track & field and volleyball – as well as badminton, field hockey and swimming.

Whether they realized it or not, the athletic careers of the 50 greats – as well as the careers of every current female Huskie student-athlete – were impacted by Title IX, which paved the way for the expansion of women’s athletic programs and led to increased participation in athletics at both the high school and college levels for female student-athletes.

NIU boasts a rich tradition of women’s sports that includes individual and team national champions as well as numerous All-Americans and conference champions. While just 50 “Huskie Greats” were honored, every woman who has worn the Cardinal and Black has contributed to the Huskies’ legacy.

Along that line, NIU Athletics invites all former Huskie women student-athletes to make plans now to return to campus on October 8-9, 2022 and be a part of NIU’s continuing celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX. Events highlighting the Huskies’ current women’s teams and honoring the history and tradition of women’s athletics at NIU will be held on the same weekend as the university’s 115th Homecoming celebration. Details on all planned events will be shared as they are finalized.