SPREADING KINDNESS — In an effort to express kindness and the importance of community, Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance and the Faith Always Wins Foundation are offering a free showing for teens of the documentary about TV’s Fred Rogers, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” at 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at AMC 20 Town Center.
Kansas City area high schoolers are invited to see the film and participate in a panel discussion following the film, which will be led by teens from the two sponsoring organizations.
Faith Always Wins Foundation is the sponsor of the annual weeklong SevenDays, a series of events created following the hate-crime murders of three people outside of Jewish facilities in 2014. For more information, visit the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance website at kciya.org and click on calendar.
A LIFE WELL LIVED — I never met Bernice Resnick Sandler and just learned about her on the “Life Well Lived” segment of “Sunday Today with Willie Geist.” Sandler, who died Jan. 5, is the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Germany and has been called “The Godmother of Title IX.” Without a doubt this woman helped shape my life, and the lives of millions of other women, in a variety of ways.
Title IX is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender in any federally funded education program or activity. Sandler played a major role in the law’s development and passage.
What prompted Sandler to forge ahead against discrimination on the basis of one’s sex? Immediately following the completion of her Ed.D. from the University of Maryland, she applied to a variety of teaching positions that she was qualified for but was continually turned down for a variety of reasons. In one interview she was told, she “came on too strong for a woman.”
It is because of Title IX that I advanced to my first “big” job after college (1981) in the Athletic Department of the University of Kansas to publicize women’s and other non-revenue sports precisely because KU needed to hire a woman for the job. While Title IX guidelines weren’t yet law, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which precipitated Title IX, led to a lawsuit in 1970 charging Newsweek magazine with discrimination in hiring and promotion. That lawsuit paved the way to the career I’ve had since 1988 working for newspapers and magazines.
I thank “Bunny” Sandler for what she did to pave the road for people like me to have the careers they have. May her memory be a blessing.
KU HILLEL’S ANNUAL WOMEN’S HOOPS CLASSIC — Don’t miss your chance to catch the Lady Jayhawks play the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sunday, Feb. 17, at legendary Allen Fieldhouse.
As mentioned above, I know a thing or two about women’s basketball. (Yes, even with my short stature!) As I write this the ladies, 11-3 overall for the season, are coming off a huge win against in-state rival Kansas State.
Besides having a chance to see the ladies play a game that can be just as thrilling as the ones played by their male counterparts, top-level donors ($2,500) will have a chance to meet KU Men’s Basketball Coach and Hall-of-Famer Bill Self prior to the game. All proceeds from the Women’s Hoops Classic benefit KU Hillel and a variety of programs. For more information, see page 10 or contact Michelle Cole at .