Thiel College event celebrating undefeated women’s basketball teams and Title IX

Posted January 24, 2023 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the three-year unbeaten streak of the 1971 to 1973 women’s basketball team as well as recognize the recent golden anniversary of the passage of the landmark federal civil rights law that prohibited sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

The Thiel College women’s basketball team won 31 straight games between 1971 and 1973, the longest winning streak by any team in school history.

“Thiel College was coeducational from its founding in 1866, which makes equity and access cornerstones of Thiel College’s history, mission and vision,” said President Susan Traverso, Ph.D., Thiel’s first female president. “Title IX has had a transformative impact on our society. It opened educational opportunities for girls and women, including enlarged access to competitive athletics. In doing so, Title IX enhanced education for all. Thiel’s celebration is timely as it marks a women’s athletic team whose success was a bridge from a time before Title IX was law into the year following its passage. We are happy to honor the accomplishments of these trailblazing teams and Thiel alumnae.”

Members of the 1971, 1972 and 1973 teams will be on campus for an alumni game event Saturday morning, pre- and post-game receptions. Those members and the teams themselves along with the passage of Title IX in 1972 will be recognized at halftime of the Tomcats’ women’s game against Allegheny College on Saturday, January 28.

The day will also include an admission event connected to the ceremony where prospective students will be invited to stay on campus to take part in the recognition and watch the Tomcat men and women play. T-shirts will be handed out to attendees, too.