Retired WNBA Basketball legend Jackie Stiles will speak at Barton Community College at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 29, in the Fine Arts Auditorium to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Title IX. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. 

Barton Title IX Coordinator Cheryl Brown said celebrating the 50th Anniversary is an important milestone to acknowledge. 

“President Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law in 1972,” she said. “Early efforts to obtain equal access for women in education focused on athletics, but it also opened the doors for women in all the professions and every field beyond education.”

Brown said Stiles is an exciting figure to help celebrate this landmark anniversary.

“Jackie is a Barton County hometown hero who was asked to speak at Barton to inspire not only our students but all of us … not just in athletics, but in all of life’s endeavors,” she said.

Stiles is one of the most renowned basketball players in the history of the women’s game. From her roots in Claflin, she led the country in scoring. Then to Southwest Missouri State University, she rewrote the NCAA women’s basketball record books en route to leading the Lady Bears to the 2001 Final Four. Finally, to a professional career in the WNBA, Jackie has inspired and impacted millions. In 2016, Stiles was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For more information, please contact Title IX Coordinator Cheryl Brown at brownc@bartonccc.edu or call 620-786-7441.