(This story is from Aug. 26 2022)
An agent of change at WSU
Karen Troianello reflects on Title IX decades after being part of a groundbreaking gender equity case
- Aug
26, 2022 Lewiston, Idaho, Tribune, Moscow Pullman Daily News
Karen Troianello believes every young boy and girl in school should open themselves up to as many experiences as they can, not just in sports but in the classroom.
She has been a longtime advocate for equal opportunity in schools for all genders.
Forty-three years ago, Troianello joined 38 other female Washington State University athletes and 11 coaches in fighting for gender equality through a lawsuit against WSU. They would win Blair v. Washington State University in 1987 after the case went to the state Supreme Court.
The athletes and coaches fought for more scholarships, their own locker room, better uniforms and the right to not be treated as second-class athletes. When Troianello, then Karen Blair, was a track and field athlete at WSU between 1976-80, there were only five women’s varsity sports at WSU. Today, there are nine.
When she looks back at that time, she thinks about the teamwork required to make it happen.
“I think it was such an amazing time of a lot of people coming together and seeing that there was something that needed to change and then working for it,” she said.
Troianello, a copy editor for the Yakima Herald-Republic, has spoken about her experiences to younger generations. They probably have a hard time imagining what it was like for her and her teammates at WSU, but she said that is a positive.
“I think that’s a nice thing that they don’t know some of that,” she said.
Some expressed their gratitude. She recalled meeting a young female athlete when Troianello was inducted into the Bellingham High School Hall of Fame as an activist.
“Her mom brought her up and said, ‘This is who you need to thank,’ ” she said.
As Troianello reflects on the 50th anniversary of Title IX, she thinks about equity in other facets of education. She thinks about her youth and how being good at math or taking wood shop class was taboo for girls back then.
She hopes boys and girls now have the same opportunities and feel the same freedom to try as many classes and activities as they want.
“I just think that you have to have opportunities for all sorts of things for kids to find out where they shine and where they can find ways to offer more to their community,” she said.
One of the great benefits of athletics is that it can provide young boys and girls with mentors who encourage them to do their best.
“It may not be a state winning performance but it’s a pushing of self, which I think we all need,” she said.
Troianello said she thinks it’s great that women and girls are continuing to challenge norms, especially now. Even though women have made significant progress in athletics and education over the years, Troianello said equality is never guaranteed.
“We’re in a time when rights for women are not necessarily assured and the progress that we’ve made on many fronts I think is endangered,” she said.
PHOTO CUTINE: Karen Troianello, then Karen Blair, was at the heart of a lawsuit Washington State University women athletes and coaches brought against WSU seeking gender equity in compliance with Title IX. Robert Hubner/WSU Photo Services
