Caldwell University to Host Panel on Girls’ High School Basketball in the 1960s, ’70s, and ‘80s

Caldwell, N.J. –September 18, 2013

Caldwell University will host the panel discussion “Before Title IX, There Was Girls’ High School Basketball” on Tuesday, Oct. 29. The event, made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, will begin with a reception and photo display at 7 p.m., followed by the program at 7:45 p.m. in the Alumni Theatre on campus.

The evening will provide a chance to celebrate girls’ high school basketball and the life lessons young women learned through the sport in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

The program will be moderated by Linda Cimino, Caldwell University’s associate director of athletics/senior woman administrator and women’s head basketball coach. Panelists are: Dr. Thomas McCabe, history professor at Rutgers Newark; Sister Elizabeth Michael Boyle, Ph.D., retired faculty member at Caldwell and a student athlete advocate; Sister Michel Rodgers, O.P., basketball coach, St. Mary’s Rutherford in the 1960’s; Louise Pastore, nee Melleno, member of Caldwell University Athletics Hall of Fame, and former player who scored over 1600 points for St. Dominic Academy in Jersey City in the late 1960s.

Panelists will discuss the importance of girls’ basketball during those decades and what the sport did for future generations. Speakers and audience members will have the chance to share the lessons and joys the sport gave and continues to give young women including the importance of friendship, teamwork, following dreams, and perseverance.

Prior to the event, anyone who played girls’ high school basketball during those eras is invited to take part in a Facebook photo contest. The owner of the photo that receives the most likes on Facebook will be eligible to win a prize.

To submit a photo of your high school basketball playing days, to be placed on the Caldwell University Facebook page, go to www.caldwell.edu/njchfestival or mail a nonreturnable photo to Office of Alumni Affairs, Attn: Before Title IX Event, Caldwell University, 120 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, N.J. 07006.

For more information, you can also go to www.caldwell.edu/njchfestival.

The event is being held to celebrate National Arts and Humanities Month and “Sports in American Culture and Communities”.