Women's History Month Spotlight: Edith Green was the author of Title IX – and the great-grandmother of an AAU Governor

By Kelsey Burr

ORLANDO, Fla. (March 14, 2023) -- For Sharice Green, working in a leadership role at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Office is a full-circle moment. She’s a member of the AAU Women’s Basketball Committee, AAU Hawaii Governor, and now she’s working to grow girls’ basketball, and basketball in general, all over the country, with an emphasis on the West Coast.

But without the work of her great-grandmother, Edith Green, Sharice’s path – in fact, every woman’s path, could have been very different.

Edith Green changed the course of history. The congresswoman, who served for 20 years from 1955 to 1975 as a representative of Oregon, authored, introduced, and guided Title IX through the U.S House of Representatives. She also helped lead the charge for the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

As the official U.S. House of Representatives website says, “Few women in Congress have left such a substantial legacy as did Edith Starrett Green.”

“Sometimes if I’m with a familiar group of people, I’ll say, ‘you know, my great-grandmother was the author of Title IX.’ It feels cool to be able to say something like that,” said Sharice.

Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, states that “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.”

Congresswoman Green presided over seven days of hearings on the amendment, during which witnesses explained the various ways women faced discrimination in postsecondary education.

After the passage of Title IX, Green is quoted as saying “I don’t know when I have ever been so pleased, because I had worked so long and it had been such a tough battle.”

While the amendment doesn’t mention sports specifically, it’s now most closely associated with improving women’s access and participation in athletics.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, women made up 44% of all NCAA athletes in the 2020-2021 academic year, compared to 15% pre-Title IX in 1972.

At the high school level, girls’ athletic participation on varsity teams increased dramatically, from 7% in 1972 to 43% in 2018-2019.

Sharice herself benefitted from this landmark legislation. She played basketball starting with AAU in her youth through college, where she got a scholarship.

“I started playing basketball in fourth grade. I was kind of just one of those lucky people who naturally had a gift. I was a really good shooter … When I got into sixth grade, I got invited to play with this eighth grade team in Portland, and I came to AAU Nationals in Orlando,” said Sharice. “That was my first big AAU event. From there, I played high school, and then I got a scholarship to play at the University of Nevada, Reno.”

“I ended up benefitting from [Title IX]. I got a scholarship to college that might not have been there the same way if that hadn’t been a thing and passed,” Sharice said.

Growing up in Portland, Sharice learned early on about her great-grandmother’s impact.

“She passed away when I was young, but because of how much influence she had, there’s a federal building that’s named after her, a foundation. So, in the city itself, she’s a prominent figure,” said Sharice. “It kind of trickled down -- my grandparents were heavily involved in politics, everybody was a principal. So, education was a big thing. And so, it kind of all stemmed from her.”

At Sharice’s grandparent’s house, they made sure to preserve this special family history.

“[Edith] ran the Kennedy’s campaigns, and they were close family friends, too. And so, growing up, there was a presidential kind of room that was in my grandparent’s house,” said Sharice. “The walls were covered with signed pictures, and art that had a lot of politics, Kennedy’s, other presidents, Roosevelt. There’s bills and stuff. There was just a whole bunch of things that were cool, that you never would see or that you would hear about in a government book or something, but I just walked downstairs to my grandparent’s basement and see this cool room. It looked like a treasure room.”


Congresswoman Edith Green stands next to President John F. Kennedy at the White House,1961.

Sharice knows how important Title IX continues to be, 51 years later.

“It’s one of only a few things that literally has a hard line with a number of equality between men and women. There’s no negotiating. It doesn’t matter if you’re in this state or that state, everybody across the country has to follow that Title. It makes it one of the most important things for women right now,” said Sharice. “It’s going to continue to provide opportunities for youth coming up, from AAU, whatever sports, as they get older and they go to college and get those scholarships. And not even just in sports, just education is really important and it’s an equal opportunity for education."