All of Hawaii can take immense pride in the legislative leadership work done by Hawaii Congresswoman Patsy Mink and her colleague, Congresswoman Edith Green of Oregon, in passing Title IX in 1972. It seems unimaginable, but the ingrained attitudes at the University of Hawaii in the late 1960s and early 1970s against equitable funding for women’s athletics for fear of cutting support for men’s sports, put a damper on the progress promised by Title IX.
Unfortunately the local coverage of the 50th anniversary of passage of Title IX failed to note that Title IX actually had no impact on collegiate sports in Hawaii until there was implementing legislation at the state level. The local coverage rightly put the spotlight on Congresswoman Mink and Dr. Donnis Thompson, UH’s first director of women’s athletics. But the stories failed to shine the spotlight on a third female who made sure Title IX applied in Hawaii. That role was played by then-state Rep. Patricia Saiki, the East Honolulu Republican who would go on to serve in the state Senate and then in the U.S. House of Representatives.
When Title IX became law at the federal level, Hawaii was clearly out of compliance. Pat was a leader in local efforts to ensure that equal rights applied to women in Hawaii in all regards, including collegiate athletics. As she notes in her recently published political memoir, “A Woman in the House,” Pat recalled: “My work on equal rights at both the local and national levels made paramount the task of addressing Title IX inequalities in my home state. I convinced my colleagues on the (state House Higher Education Committee) that women deserved their own leadership, their own facilities and certainly their own funding. I put the University of Hawaii on notice that I intended to make this subject one of my very highest priorities.”
And that’s exactly what happened. Pat lined up support among Democrats and Republicans on both the House Higher Education Committee and House Budget Committee to back legislation that required equal status for women’s collegiate athletics — and critically provided the funding to ensure the good intentions became reality at the locker room and playing field levels. That funding included a new position called director of women’s athletics, a post filled first by Donnis Thompson.
Everything that came afterward — the significantly improved facilities, the beefed-up administrative support for the coaches and athletes on women’s teams, and soon the nationally competitive athletic squads and national championships — happened because the Hawaii Legislature mandated equality for female collegiate athletes. State lawmakers made clear that it was unacceptable that female athletes at UH remained second-class citizens.
Title IX is important, and thus it is important that local readers know the full story of how the groundbreaking work of Congresswomen Mink and Green became a reality in these islands. It required equally hard work and commitment at the state level.
So yes, let’s celebrate the leadership role Hawaii played in the passage of Title IX. But let’s make sure that when we recount the story of how it played out on the hardwood courts and green playing fields of Manoa, that we recognize all of the local leaders who insisted that equality must be the rules by which all athletes play.
Let’s remember Patsy Mink, Edith Green and Pat Saiki, and give them the recognition that they all deserve.
Floyd K. Takeuchi, a former government reporter at The Honolulu Advertiser, later served as executive assistant to Congresswoman Patricia Saiki in Washington, D.C.
