A quarter celebrating the life and legacy of the late Title IX champion and distinguished University of Hawaiʻi alumna Patsy Takemoto Mink is available for purchase from the U.S. Mint, and began shipping in March. The quarter design depicts the former U.S. Representative holding her landmark Title IX legislation, which prohibits educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex in any way.
- Related UH News story: Quarter honoring Title IX champion Patsy T. Mink is released, March 28, 2024
To get an idea of the depth and breadth of Mink’s impact, UH News interviewed UH Mānoa Professor Kathy Ferguson, who teaches political theory, feminist theory and feminist research methods. She is the recipient of awards for teaching, research and community service, and was ranked among the “Top 25“ most cited political theorists in the U.S. in “Political Science 400“.
Who was Patsy T. Mink and why was she important?
Her role in creating and passing Title IX was extraordinary. She was a cosponsor, but she did the heavy lifting, and I think as a sign of that when she died, it was renamed after her—was renamed the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. She also … had to keep fighting for it in the 25 years after Title IX was passed in ‘72. It came back 24 times. So she had to keep fighting to keep the law on the books, to keep it from being watered down, to keep it from losing its funding over and over. She was indefatigable. She just wouldn’t give up.
How did Patsy T. Mink change college sports?
She brought women onto the scene of college sports. Before Patsy Mink, very small percentages of girls and women were involved in high school or college sports. And that’s important, too, because high school sports feed college sports. After the passage, 35 years after the passage of Title IX, it was like a 400% increase in the number of girls and women involved in athletics. So in terms of the effect on athletics, it was unsurpassed. Nothing has come close to bringing more gender equality to athletics than Title IX.
How did she change higher education beyond college athletics?
She did a lot for education outside of athletics. Title IX, and the subsequent legislation to fund it and to protect it, affected gender equality in the curriculum, in counseling, and teacher preparation, the establishment of women’s studies, and women’s centers from Title IX—just a range of things—the treatment of girls and women, their health, their opportunity. It made a huge difference for girls and women in college.
What were Patsy T. Mink’s ties to UH and Hawaiʻi that should be highlighted and/or shaped who she was?
She had a lot of ties to UH. She graduated from here with degrees in zoology and chemistry, sent her daughter to the UH Lab School, taught here for a while between her two sets of terms in the Congress. And I think she had an enduring loyalty. She thought the people of Hawaiʻi and the women of the country were her constituents.