The Alumni Board strives to connect alumni with one another and with Macalester, and each board member supports those efforts by joining a working group focused on athletics, career connections, or diversity.
In 2021 and 2022, the Alumni Board鈥檚 athletics working group is delving into how stories from the past can inform the present and shape priorities for the future鈥攁nd how alumni athletes鈥 experiences reverberate far beyond in-game memories. 鈥淎thletics is a lens into broader political discussions that were happening at each step in the college鈥檚 history,鈥 says chair Matthew Bergeron 鈥08. 鈥淭here are lessons to learn from stories from the past.鈥
Last year at Reunion, alumni shared their experiences as BIPOC athletes at Macalester in the 1970s at a panel put together by Eric Anderson 鈥75. This year, the working group will again center stories from that decade, but this time with a focus on the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX, which ensures equal access to activities at institutions that receive federal funding. At Macalester, Title IX鈥檚 impact included launching varsity women鈥檚 athletic teams for the first time in the college鈥檚 history.
Alumni Board members are working with the Athletics Department and Archives to learn more鈥攁nd they want to hear from athletes who were involved in building the women鈥檚 athletics program at both the varsity and club levels. 鈥淲e want to tell that story as part of Reunion this year鈥攖he first decade of Mac women鈥檚 athletics鈥攂ut we don鈥檛 yet know the story we need to tell,鈥 says Bergeron. 鈥淚 have no doubt that steps forward were contentious and incremental. What did the college do in the 鈥70s and 鈥80s that led to the current programs? What lessons from early successes and mistakes can we apply to other endeavors today? It鈥檚 important to be honest about how we got to where we are today.鈥
- Were you part of women鈥檚 athletics at Macalester before or after Title IX and the rise of women鈥檚 athletics? Email interim director of alumni engagement Erin Updike at [email protected].
