Title IX, now the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, turns 50 this year, and the United States Postal Service is celebrating the occasion with a quartet of special stamps.

The stamps feature navy blue silhouettes of four female athletes - a gymnast, a runner, a swimmer and a soccer player - each one crowned with a wreath of gold laurels.

Such wreaths, once symbols of military and imperial power in ancient times, have come to signify honor and victory, particularly in athletics.

Personally, I was so thrilled to see the stamps that I made a special return trip to the Emmaus Post Office for a 20-stamp sheet of the striking design.

Signed into law June 23, 1972, Title IX is a civil rights law. The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex from education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance and is most often noted for opening the doors of collegiate athletics to include women.

High school and elementary athletics also were to comply with the law.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Takemoto Mink, of Hawaii, is recognized as the primary author and sponsor of the bill. Lawmakers Edith Greene and Birch Bayh “also made significant contributions.”

In addition, Title IX prohibits sexual harassment, including sexual assault, dating and domestic violence and stalking occurring on school campuses or within school programs or activities.

Title IX was not without its opponents, including national level lawmakers and the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and controversy continues in contemporary arenas today.

Arguably, however, the anniversary of the legislation is something worth noting.

I played sports in school including field hockey, basketball, coed soccer and as Neil Moser, of the Upper Milford Historical Society, recently reminded me, softball.

My athletic prowess was far from good enough to earn a laurel wreath but, wow, what fun to play sports with my classmates and friends.

It is the fun visible on the faces of the Salisbury Middle School fifth- and sixth-grade girls pictured on the front page of The Press after winning their championship game in the All-Valley League last month.

It is in the face of Allentown Central Catholic High School swimmer Mimi Norris, who placed 11th in the state for the 200 recently seen in some of The Press newspapers, thanks to Simon Ernst’s Viking Voices column.

And the numerous title-winning field hockey athletes at Emmaus High School, under the coaching of Sue Butz-Stavin, have witnessed such in their teammates more times than can be counted, no doubt.

The Title IX stamps issued by the postal service are marked as forever stamps in the lower left hand corner of the design, meaning their value will never diminish and the stamps can be used in perpetuity to mail anything first-class.

May the Patsy Takemoto Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, Title IX, achieve the same status.

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press