UBS Photos (clockwise from bottom) Sale customer wearing an apropos shirt; Emily Owens and Deb Harris working as cashiers; Kay Vlahos, Karen Brown, and Mary Ann Dion at the door on opening night; Sue Schaal chats with two customers. Photo with Sue Schaal by Rose Skegg. All others by Kate Skegg. Please note photos may display in a slightly different order on mobile devices.

This year, Downers Grove Area Branch had a booth at Rotary GroveFest for 2 hours on Sunday. Thank you to Marianne Hunnicutt (VP Membership) and Kim Venzon (VP Communications) for staffing our booth.

Four members volunteered for Rotary GroveFest shifts and earned $200 for the Branch:

Next year, we hope to have more members and friends sign up for a volunteer shift. We earn $40 for each shift worked on behalf of AAUW Downers Grove Area Branch.

(Photo: Member Kim Venzon and husband Jay volunteer at Rotary Grovefest in 2021)

   Under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972: 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. The enormous growth in the number of women in high school and college athletics — more than three million today, from 300,000 in 1972 — has led to the increasing professionalization of, and interest in, women’s sports.

   Essentially, Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funding (the vast majority of schools). While Title IX is a very short statute, Supreme Court decisions and guidance from the U.S. Department of Education have given it a broad scope covering sexual harassment and sexual violence. Under Title IX, schools are legally required to respond and remedy hostile educational environments and failure to do so is a violation that means a school could risk losing its federal funding.

   Title IX took effect 50 years ago as of June 2022. This is a good time to be reminded of the need for its protections. Title IX was previously a powerful tool to stop sexual violence and harassment in schools, but on August 14th, 2020, the Department of Education’s new Title IX rule went into effect drastically rolling back protections for student survivors and making it easier for schools to sweep sexual harassment under the rug.

   It took the previous administration more than 3 ½ years to put into effect the Title IX rule that primarily favored those accused of sexual misbehavior. The Biden administration extended Title IX protections to transgender students and is considering an overhaul of the law. The material above is from the website www.knowyourix.org and an April 27, 2022 New York Times article titled “Title IX at 50: How It Changed Congress, Campuses and Sports” by Alina Tugend.

   American women will be honored on quarters issued by the US Mint from 2022 through 2025. The women to be honored in 2022 are Maya Angelou, Dr. Sally Ride, Wilma Mankiller, Nina Otero-Warren, and Anna May Wong. Check your change!

The Public Programs Notice is archived on the  Past Programs page of the website.

The next notice is the September edition which will be released around September 5, 2022