The Bertha Harris Women’s Center and the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program invite you to a discussion of Title IX with CSI’s Title IX Officer, Ms. Tara Mastrangelo, Esq. Come and learn about ways that the College ensures equal education for all students and the historical forces and heroic actions that led to the creation of this guarantee.

Title IX, a clause of the 1972 Federal Education Amendments, was signed into law on June 23, 1972. The landmark legislation bans sex discrimination in federally funded education programs and activities, stating that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” The author of Title IX was U.S. Representative from Hawaii Patsy Takemoto Mink, the first woman of color to serve in Congress. On Mink’s death in 2002, Title IX was officially renamed the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act.

Tara Mastrangelo is a CSI graduate who went on to law school after her undergraduate studies. She has used her law degree to become a keen advocate for women’s educational access and against sex-based discrimination and violence. She is the Coordinator for Title IX at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, and an expert on the legal applications and compliance issues connected to this key legal guarantee of women’s equal access to educational opportunities.

She will join us to talk about her work and you may interview her about Title IX, the fight for legal equity for women (especially in education), and her career (her education, how she knew she wanted to go to law school, and how she has worked after graduating from CSI). Professor Catherine Lavender will provide a brief historical background to the creation of Title IX as part of this discussion.

This is a great opportunity for students to meet with a successful graduate who is using her CSI degree to change the world for the better.

For information about Title IX at CSI, please go online.

By the Bertha Harris Women’s Center