WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics celebrated the 50th anniversary of Title IX on Thursday with events on Capitol Hill, panels and online recognition. While there have been women's sports on the Hilltop for 70 years, the groundbreaking legislation was instrumental in providing life changing opportunities for female athletes.

Early in the day, members of the women's basketball team attended an event on Capitol Hill hosted by Voice of Sport. The event was to introduce the Fair Play for Women Act of 2022. The goal of the bill extends Title IX's application beyond schools, to college conferences and the NCAA itself.

In a video put out by the organization, Georgetown women's basketball rising senior Graceann Bennett was quoted in a video entitled "When I Use My Voice" saying, "When I use my voice, I represent all of the work done by girls and women who came before me. And I fight for the resources and representation that we continually deserve moving forward."

In the evening, members of the team and Athletics staff attended a panel hosted by LEAD1. The panel was moderated by USA Today Columnist Christine Brennan, and included BIG EAST Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman, University of Pittsburgh Director of Athletics Heather Lyke, basketball analyst and mother of GU student-athlete Brianna Scott Christy Winters-Scott, President of Playfly Sports Christy Hedgpath and Congress Representatives Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Lori Trahan (Mass.), Susie Lee (Nev.), and Sharice Davids (Kan.), all of whom are former student-athletes. Trahan has Georgetown ties as a former volleyball player on the Hilltop.

Each of the panelists spoke on how Title IX changed their lives and where they hope to see it go in the next 50 years.

Brennan summed it up pointing out that the results of the passing of Title IX were in front of the crowd sitting on the stage. That all would not be in those seats without this legislation.

While Thursday was an important day, it was in line with the current "Georgetown Women in Sports" campaign. In January, Georgetown Athletics announced that women's sports would be honored throughout 2022 in recognition of both 70 years on the Hilltop and the 50th anniversary of Title IX. The Department celebration includes signature branded events, game recognitions and social media highlights honoring these women. Georgetown Athletics has been remembering trailblazers, saluting standouts and celebrating the many contributions of women's sports on the Hilltop.

At the time, Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Business & Finance / SWA Sharon Brummell paraphrased the importance of women's sports at Georgetown.

"I recall the words of Nathalie Paramskas, our first field hockey coach and my earliest predecessor as senior woman administrator, 'Women's athletics has come a long way over the years and progress has not come easily, but ... I can truly say that the future is bright for women's athletics here at Georgetown' "