Sonya Spain, Beverly Ropke (’60), Marie Green (’57), Sarah Lewis (’55) , Marianne Royden Matthews (’59), and Joyce Ryder Duff

By Josh Shepherd

Women health and physical educators have had a profound impact on the fields of health, fitness, and sports in Kentucky. However, due to the historic significance of Title IX legislation, the contributions of women in the decades preceding it were often overlooked. The Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion (KHP) at the University of Kentucky celebrated their contributions with a reunion of its female faculty and graduates on Saturday, February 21 at the Boone Faculty Club. (See MORE PHOTOS.)

The KHP department, formerly known as the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER), invited its women faculty and graduates from 1940 to 1980 to participate in the celebration. The reunion honored these women who had an impact on sports, coaching, teaching and mentoring with out funding or support previous to the passing Title IX.

Also recognized were those faculty members who prepared hundreds of women for careers in health, physical education and dance. Those women went on to impact the lives of thousands of Kentucky’s youth.

The program featured testimonies from several of the department’s prominent faculty and alumni. They shared their memories and life experiences from each of the decades from 1940 to 1980.

This program was part of the KHP department’s centennial celebration.