Ahead of the Curve: The Legacy of Empowering Women at Gordon

Authored by Sammy-Jo Watt

An image of Gordon State College building a dressing room for young women

Taken at the end of 1965, this photo shows Gordon Military College providing women their own dressing room despite not being required by law to do so. The college is providing equality among the genders by not only giving women their own, private dressing room but also, at the above words indicate, also increasing their physical education.

Unfortunately, society has not always provided equality among its inhabitants. Dr. Anne Sutherland noted that there is an “urgent need to extend…protection…to women in institutions of higher education” (History Matters, n.d.). Regrettably, the serious issue for discrimination against women was not truly solved with women speaking out, the 19th Amendment, or the Equal Protection Clause. Women could vote but still had difficulty with access to higher education. According to the Law Library, “the Equal Protection Clause does not require states to satisfy the same strict standards for gender discrimination as for racial” (The Law Library, n.d.). Continue reading