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Forty years ago when Title IX was rolled out, some of the pioneers of USF Athletics took advantage of the new legislation. Women like Suzanne Enos-O'Meara '80 and Mary Hile Nepfel '80 powered the earliest Dons' basketball and volleyball squads.

A decade later, former USF basketball coach Jennifer Azzi was donning a Stanford jersey and later traded her cardinal for the red, white and blue as part of Team USA.

Fast forward another decade to USF Hall of Fame athletes like Brittany Lindhe-White '99 and Brittanie Budinger-Howard '03 and the importance of Title IX was vital to not only their own personal experiences but the shared experience of every woman crossing the threshold into athletic competition as collegiate athletes.

For athletes like Jessica Potter '06, Fiona O'Sullivan '07, and Michelle Duncan '05, getting a foundation at USF was vital in the growth and development both on and off the field of competition. Even for the most recent women who have matriculated from the Dons like Zhane Dikes '16 the lessons learned on the Hilltop proved to be invaluable.

And for others, like Joan McDermott, Yvonne Gomez, Maite Zabala, Hile-Nepfel and many more, that foundation led to a career in athletics helping current and future generations of student-athletes find their success athletically and academically.

Whether you played nearly 40 years ago as one of the pioneers of USF Athletics, if you play on the Hilltop now or if you are raising a future Don, it is easy to appreciate the importance of the implementation and continuation of Title IX.