The Kennesaw State University Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books (MARB) presents exhibitions, public programs, archival collections, and educational services supporting KSU’s mission and encouraging dialogue about the past and its significance today. This online module is part of a series of modules designed for university students to explore pivotal moments in history through a diverse selection of source materials from our University Archives.
This module draws on yearbooks, student newspapers, athletic guides, oral histories, and other records to examine the topic of women and sports throughout the history of KSU and SPSU. All images and primary source material used in this module are from the KSU Archives unless otherwise noted.
Essential Questions
As you explore this module, use the primary source material and content to consider the following essential questions:
- What athletic opportunities were available to women as KSU and SPSU students?
- How did these opportunities change over time, and what role did Title IX play in these changes?
- How were women's sports portrayed by university publications?
Image: Kennesaw Junior College softball player, 1973 Montage yearbook.
Fast Facts: KSU and SPSU History
- Kennesaw Junior College was chartered in 1963 and held its first classes in 1966. In 1977, the school changed its name to Kennesaw College to reflect its new four-year college status. It became Kennesaw State College in 1988 and Kennesaw State University in 1996.
- The Technical Institute held its first classes in 1948 on its original campus in Chamblee, Georgia. It was renamed Southern Technical Institute in 1949, and moved its campus to Marietta in 1961. The name was changed again in 1986 to Southern College of Technology, and to Southern Polytechnic State University in 1996. For most of its history, it was known colloquially as "Southern Tech."
- Southern Polytechnic State University consolidated with Kennesaw State University in 2015.
Title IX and Gender Equity in College Athletics
The Educational Amendments of 1972 was a federal law that modified previous legislation relating to public education in the United States. Among its provisions was Title IX: Prohibition of Sex Discrimination, which stated the following:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
While the law applies broadly to educational programs that receive federal funds, it is most frequently referenced in relation to intercollegiate athletics. The law requires that coeducational institutions provide equal opportunity to men and women in athletic programs. Every school that receives federal funding is required to submit annual reports to the Department of Education to ensure compliance with the law.
To comply with Title IX, colleges and universities must demonstrate that their ratio of male-to-female athletes and athletic scholarships are equal to their ratio of male-to-female students, or that they are actively working toward achieving that ratio.
Click the image below for a summary of Title IX regulations relating to intercollegiate athletics.
Image: Kennesaw College women's basketball game. From the 1984 Montage yearbook.
Early Years
Women made up a very small percentage of the student body in the early years of the school. Out of 293 students enrolled in the 1948 fall quarter, only one was a woman. By the fall of 1955, only four women had graduated from Southern Tech. While the total number of enrolled students had risen to 711, only one woman was enrolled.
Click the link below to read the article "Barbara Hudson Only Coed, Found Cute, Lively, O.K.!" from the first issue of The Technician (page 3), Southern Tech's student newspaper.
Compare the 1948 article above to the two late 1960s student newspaper articles below.
Consider the student newspaper's portrayal of female students at Southern Tech. What changes do you see over time? What similarities?
Image: "Participants in Institute's First Graduation," from The Technician student newspaper, March 1949.
Southern Tech offered intramural sports and informal intercollegiate basketball games for male students as early as the fall of 1948. The student newspapers and yearbooks provide records of these activities, but do not show that any athletic opportunities existed for female students.
In 1970, the University System of Georgia elevated Southern Tech to the status of a senior college and the school began offering four year degrees for the first time. During this decade, Southern Tech joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), a college athletics association for small colleges and universities. As a member of the NAIA, Southern Tech fielded intercollegiate teams for male students, including men's basketball.
Image: Southern Tech basketball game, undated. From the SPSU Historic Photograph Collection.
Growth and Change
By late 1960s and 1970s, more women began to enroll at Southern Tech. In 1976, the school offered “Powder Puff Football” as its first intramural sport for women.
"For the first time ever we had enough interested STI women to start an intramural sport. Let’s hope that by next year the women will be involved in other sports in the intramural program."
Quote from the Technician’s Log yearbook, 1977.
Read the letter to the editor below from 1976 concerning the inclusion of women in athletic activities on the Southern Tech campus.
Consider the following questions:
- How does this letter demonstrate the changing nature of the student body? The administration?
- Does this article demonstrate a significant impact that could be attributed to Title IX? Why or why not?
Image: Powder Puff Football, 1977 Technician’s Log yearbook.
In the following years, school publications such as yearbooks and newspapers demonstrate the increasing presence of women at Southern Tech, including in intramural sports.
Review the two images below from the 1982 Technician's Log yearbook and consider how it portrays men's and women’s teams. What similarities or differences do you see?
Later Years
"A new chapter in Southern Tech sports was written as the Tennis Teams' Freshman Emilia Chamdari (#4) became the first woman athlete to compete for [Southern College of Technology]."
Quote from the 1991 Technician’s Log yearbook.
In 2002, Southern Tech established women’s basketball as its first and only intercollegiate women’s sport. The team was especially successful in the final years before consolidation, when they reached the NAIA Division I nationals four times between 2010 and 2014.
Image: 2002-2003 Women's Basketball team inaugural season photograph with SPSU President Lisa Rossbacher (far right).
Intramural Teams
In the early days of the school, Kennesaw Junior College did not offer intercollegiate sports. Intramural sports were available to both men and women.
Click the link below to read a 1972 article from the KJC student newspaper (page 8) about a co-ed intramural team.
As you read, consider the following questions:
- What perspective does the author provide on this topic?
- How does this article portray the participation of women in sports at KJC during this period?
Image: Female students participating in intramural gymnastics, 1967 Montage yearbook.
Intercollegiate Athletics
Inaugurated as President in 1982, Dr. Betty Siegel was instrumental in the creation of the first intercollegiate athletic programs at Kennesaw College (KC).
"One of the things I found that is elusive is how you create a sense of community on a campus that is a commuter campus. [...] What I really need is an athletic program."
Dr. Betty Siegel reflecting on the decision to establish intercollegiate athletics at Kennesaw College. Excerpt from Interviews with Betty Lentz Siegel, KSU Oral History Project.
In 1985, track and field star Jenifer Turner became the first KC student to achieve the title of All-American athlete. The women’s track team brought home Kennesaw's first intercollegiate championship in 1986.
The Kennesaw State College (KSC) women’s basketball team won the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GIAC) championship and the NAIA district tournament in 1988. At the time of the 1989-1990 school year, the Athletic department was sufficiently funded to offer the maximum ten full scholarships in both men’s and women’s basketball.
Click the link below to review the Kennesaw State College intercollegiate athletics media guide from the 1988-1989 school year.
Consider:
- Based on this guide, does KSC appear to be in compliance with Title IX? Why or why not?
Image: KSC women's basketball team, 1988 Montage yearbook.
Between 1992 and 1995, Kennesaw State's growing student body resulted in a transition out of the NAIA to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), a college and university athletic association with greater opportunities for larger schools. To meet NCAA requirements, KSC added several teams to its sports lineup. Among those were two women’s teams: tennis and cross country.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, women’s teams from Kennesaw State continued to perform well, winning championships in cross country, basketball, and softball.
Image: Members of the KSC softball team pictured in the 1995 Talisman yearbook.
The Legacy of Bobbie Bailey and KSU Athletics
The philanthropy of Atlanta businesswoman Bobbie Bailey had a significant impact on Kennesaw State University athletics programs.
"You didn’t have anything in schools for girls back then. When I was going to school we had one softball bat and one ball. You had to have your own glove, and you had to make your own uniform. We had to learn to sew. We had to make our own shorts. Boys could play football. Now basketball is better, but football was big then. The school system never did anything for girls back then. They still don’t do a lot for young women. But, anyway, it’s much better."
Bobbie Bailey reflecting on a lack of athletic opportunities for girls during her school years. Excerpt from Interview with M. Bobbie Bailey (2007), KSU Oral History Project.
Bailey became interested in supporting women’s athletics in the 1960s as sponsor of the Lorelei Ladies, an Atlanta fast pitch softball team.
Click the link below to explore the Lorelei Ladies Scrapbook in the Bobbie Bailey Collection.
As you review the scrapbook, consider the following questions:
- Most of the photographs in this scrapbook are publicity photographs taken circa 1953. How are the athletes portrayed, and how might these be different from candid (not staged) photographs?
- What similarities or differences do you see between the depiction of the Lorelei Ladies and female athletes from KSU and SPSU? Does this change over time?
When the Lorelei Ladies disbanded, Bobbie Bailey worked with President Betty Siegel to donate the team’s remaining funds to Kennesaw State College. With additional personal donations from Bailey, Kennesaw State established women’s athletics scholarships in 1991 and the Bailey Athletic Complex in 2005.
Image: "Groundbreaking Ceremony, The Bobbie Bailey Athletic Complex, Kennesaw State University" photocollage from the Bobbie Bailey Collection.
One of the considerations with adding a football team to KSU's athletics program was maintaining compliance with Title IX. The addition of new women’s sports would be required that would have the same total number of scholarship athletes as football.
In 2012, the KSU student fee committee voted to support a fee of $100 per student per semester to initiate a football program and additional Title IX women’s sports at KSU.
Image: Women's Lacrosse team, 2019. Courtesy of KSU Athletics.
Selected KSU Archives Digital Resources
Materials from the following archival collections were used throughout this module. Click on the links below to explore the collections in our Scholarly Online Access Repository.
- Bobbie Bailey Collection, 1948-2016
- KSU Athletic Media Guides, 1989-2009
- KSU Oral History Series
- KSU Yearbook Collection, 1967-1995
- Sentinel student newspaper, 1967-2015
- SPSU Student Newspaper Collection, 1948-2013
- SPSU Yearbook Collection, 1949-1997
For more on university history, click the button below for a virtual exhibition tour.
Background image: Kennesaw State Athletic Media Guides, 1984 - 1997.
