Courtesy of the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center

The State of Maryland is home to many women “firsts” and “founders” who are highlighted and honored at the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center.

In addition to the renowned women who are known far beyond our state, there are innumerable women in each of our lives who have sustained our families, taught or volunteered in our schools, worked for social justice and shaped our communities—often behind the scenes, serving anonymously, without recognition and praise. The Maryland Women’s Heritage Center is committed to telling and preserving the stories of these unsung heroines and honoring their many contributions.

Dr. Bernice R. “Bunny” Sandler from Montgomery County, Md., is one such woman “Making a Difference.”

For more than 50 years, Bunny Sandler has advocated for women’s rights. She has done more to advance women’s and girl’s educational equity, especially in science, than any other person in the country.

As a visionary and pioneer for gender equality in education, she is widely known as the “Godmother of Title IX.”

Dr. Sandler was the person primarily responsible for initiating the passage of Title IX, the law which prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions, and for the extension of other laws to prohibit discrimination in employment in educational institutions. Because of her work on Title IX and other legislation, and her activities throughout the years, virtually all of the millions of girls and women in our educational system—from kindergarten to professional schools—have had their opportunities dramatically improved.

She has fought for the rights of women in the field of education. After receiving her doctorate in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland, Dr. Sandler sought out a faculty position at the school for which she was particularly well qualified for. She was denied the position because she came on “too strong for a woman.” Dr. Sandler planned and spearheaded the strategy that led to the first federal investigations of campus sex discrimination when in 1970 she filed the first charges of sex discrimination against more than 250 institutions, beginning with a lawsuit against the University of Maryland College Park. Working to get existing federal regulations enforced at a time when there were no laws prohibiting sex discrimination in education, was challenging and pioneering work.

Her persistent efforts led to the elimination of most overt discriminatory policies ranging from admissions and course selection to counseling and athletics, from scholarships to the hiring and promotion of women faculty, from pensions to pregnancy leave. Bunny increased the awareness of these specific issues in addition to women’s studies, issues related to women of color, mentoring, campus rape, sexual harassment, peer harassment, and the chilly climate for women in the classroom and elsewhere.

With the passage of Title IX, she opened the door for girls and women in science. Because discrimination in the sciences was perhaps the greatest, her impact there was especially strong.

No longer could a chemistry department refuse to allow women to take courses or to major in chemistry. No longer could schools of medicine, engineering, and other graduate and professional schools restrict the number of women who were admitted to such programs.

Additionally, by providing information and strategies, she not only helped advocates for equity to become more responsible advocates but helped administrators and others develop new programs and policies to help achieve equity for women and girls in education.

Sandler founded and was the first director of the first national project to end discrimination against women in higher education, the Association of American Colleges’ Project on the Status and Education of Women which she headed from 1971 to 1991, where she continued her work as an innovator and strategist.  She edited the newsletter, “On Campus With Women,” which was disseminated and utilized throughout the country and is now an online publication.

Currently, she serves as a Senior Scholar at the Women’s Research and Education Institute in Washington, D.C., and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine.

Bunny was inducted into the Maryland Women’s Hall of Fame in March 2010.  Despite her having filed the groundbreaking lawsuit against the University of Maryland, Bernice Sandler was inducted into the University of Maryland College Park’s Alumni Hall of Fame in June 2010 in recognition of the significance of her tremendous contributions!

For more information about the Maryland Women’s Heritage Center or to become involved with the Center, visit our website at www.MDWomensHeritageCenter.org, call 410-767-0675, or e-mail mwhcjill@comcast.net.

The Maryland Women’s Heritage Center is located at 39 West Lexington Street in Baltimore. Hours of operation are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Admission is free.