How Bernice Sandler, 'Godmother Of Title IX,' Achieved Landmark Discrimination Ban
Bernice Sandler died Saturday at the age of 90. She once told NPR she beams with pride at seeing female athletes walk "with their heads up and feeling like, 'Yeah, I can handle this world.' "
Bernice Sandler, the "godmother of Title IX" who died Saturday at the age of 90, is being remembered this week for her lifelong fight to reverse decades of institutional bias in U.S. schools and open new paths for women and girls.
It all started in an elementary school in Brooklyn, N.Y., when Sandler was a determined little girl nicknamed Bunny. She was offended by the way the boys got to do all the classroom activities.
"For example, running a slide projector," says Marty Langelan, who was Sandler's friend and colleague for nearly 50 years.
"You know, simple everyday things. You know, 'Oh, we'll have the boys do this.' If it was important, the boys did it," Langelan
