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Why University of Notre Dame Women's Basketball Coach Muffet McGraw Says She'll Only Hire Women


It’s a pretty big weekend in the world of college basketball: Both the women’s and men’s national champions will be decided over the course of the coming days. The University of Notre Dame‘s women’s team (who also happen to be the reigning champs) secured a spot to play against Baylor University for the title by defeating the University of Connecticut on Friday night (April 5).

Their head coach, Muffet McGraw, is no stranger to the big stage, and at a press conference ahead of Friday’s game, she used her platform to powerfully speak out about gender inequality, both in the world of sports and beyond. She was asked about recent comments she made to Think Progress about how she would never hire another man. Naturally, she was more than ready with a reply.

“Did you know that the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced in 1967, and it still hasn’t passed?” she said. “We need 38 states to agree that discrimination on the basis of sex is unconstitutional. We’ve had a record number of women running for office and winning. And still, we have 23 percent of the House and 25 percent of the Senate.”

“I’m getting tired of the novelty of … the first female governor of this state. The first female African-American mayor of this city,” she said. “When is it going to become the norm instead of the exception? How are these young women looking up and seeing someone that looks like them, preparing them for the future? We don’t have enough female role models. We don’t have enough visible women leaders. We don’t have enough women in power. Girls are socialized to know, when they come out, gender roles are already set. Men run the world. Men have the power. Men make the decisions. It’s always the man that is stronger one.”

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

It’s a problem she sees first-hand in her sport and profession, but as a head coach, she has the very real opportunity and power to do things differently. McGraw has employed an all-female coaching staff for the past seven years. “When you look at men’s basketball and 99% of the jobs go to men, why shouldn’t 100% or 99% of the jobs in women’s basketball go to women?” she said. “Maybe it’s because we only have 10% women athletic directors in Division I. People hire people who look like them. That’s the problem.”

Watch her full response below:

By the way, not only is McGraw a feminist who’s utilizing her position to empower other women, but she’s also a helluva a dancer. This clip was captured after the team’s semifinal victory, but honestly, women supporting women is always a win.



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Mother Thinks Women at the University of Notre Dame Should Stop Wearing Leggings


The legging problem—that’s the title of a recent letter to the editor published in the University of Notre Dame’s student newspaper The Observer. That’s right, a concerned mother thinks young women at the university are causing a major problem with their choice of attire.

The woman, Maryann White, says she’s not trying to “insult anyone or infringe upon anyone’s rights” but that she’s simply “a Catholic mother of four sons with a problem that only girls can solve: leggings.” That’s right, ladies—your choice of pants is a problem for all the boys of the world, in her opinion.

“I was at Mass at the Basilica with my family,” she writes. “In front of us was a group of young women, all wearing very snug-fitting leggings and all wearing short-waisted tops (so that the lower body was uncovered except for the leggings). Some of them truly looked as though the leggings had been painted on them.”

“A world in which women continue to be depicted as ‘babes’ by movies, video games, music videos, etc. makes it hard on Catholic mothers to teach their sons that women are someone’s daughters and sisters,” she continued. “That women should be viewed first as people—and all people should be considered with respect.”

Instead, she says she doesn’t understand why women would choose to wear a garment that exposes “their nether regions” and that she was “ashamed” for the women she saw wearing them to Mass. “I thought of all the other men around and behind us who couldn’t help but see their behinds. My sons know better than to ogle a woman’s body — certainly when I’m around (and hopefully, also when I’m not),” she explained. “They didn’t stare, and they didn’t comment afterwards. But you couldn’t help but see those blackly naked rear ends. I didn’t want to see them—but they were unavoidable. How much more difficult for young guys to ignore them.” White then makes the leap to comparing the wearing of leggings to nakedness that she wants to “throw a blanket over” in hopes of protecting the poor boys who won’t be able to help themselves.

Oh man, that’s a lot to unpack. But let me, an avid legging-as-pants wearer, say that my choice of clothing should in no way—ever—affect whether or not another person can keep themselves from respecting me and my personal boundaries. That’s true for every woman whether she’s wearing a skirt somebody deems too short, her favorite pair of leggings, or skintight jeans. It’s low-key victim blaming and my comfy pants and I want no part of it. Debating what is and is not appropriate for women to wear is certainly nothing new—but it is exhausting and, frankly, annoying considering it’s 2019.

Many female students at Notre Dame agreed.

The Washington Post reports that more than 1000 students had plans to participate in a protest by wearing leggings to class this week. “Participating in #LeggingsDayND with @Irish4RepHealth and thousands of other ND community members in defiance of those who feel entitled to police womxn’s appearance & shift the blame for impropriety,” grad student Kate Bermingham wrote on Twitter.

Another woman at the university wrote about the protests on Facebook announcing Leggings Pride Day: “Hello legging lovers of the Notre Dame Community! Don’t leave your leggings behind(s) tomorrow and join in our legging wearing hedonism! (Or not because what you wear is completely your own choice!) Love your leggings, love your body, love yourself!”

The students then showed off their leggings on social media.

Others off-campus also showed their support.

Turns out many of the male students White is so worried about are a little more evolved, and also thought White’s letter was problematic. “I was raised to respect women no matter what they are wearing. So, I think women should be able to wear leggings if they want to,” one student told The Observer. “In my opinion, I would never tell someone else how they can or cannot dress, because that is a personal choice, and it doesn’t affect me,” another said. “So, why should I tell other people what to do?”

It’s not clear exactly how many students participated in the protests, but I think the organizers made their point—and started a real conversation on campus about how people try to police and judge women’s bodies and choices. Maryann White is probably horrified. I’m just proud.



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Michigan State University Reaches $500 Million Settlement With Larry Nassar Abuse Victims


Less than three months after disgraced doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to decades in federal prison for the sexual assault of hundreds of young women and girls, Michigan State University has agreed to pay $500 million to the women he abused.

Though the settlement is not yet finalized, the agreement — made by lawyers on behalf of 332 of the victims — was approved Tuesday by the university’s trustees. In January, Nassar was convicted of having used his position as Michigan State doctor and a physician for the United States Olympic gymnastic team to prey upon young women and girls for years, abusing them under the guise of legitimate medical treatment.

“This historic settlement came about through the bravery of more than 300 women and girls who had the courage to stand up and refuse to be silenced,” John Manly, a lawyer representing many of the victims, told The New York Times. “It is the sincere hope of all of the survivors that the legacy of this settlement will be far-reaching institutional reform that will end the threat of sexual assault in sports, schools and throughout our society.”

PHOTO: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

Larry Nassar

The trial earlier this year generated international interest, captivating viewers across the nation and the world over the seven day duration. Hundreds of women testified against Nassar in a courtroom presided over by Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who was heralded by some and accused by others of undermining justice during the proceedings.

Michigan State was accused of covering up Nassar’s abuse and ignoring complaints about him for years; in the aftermath, the university’s president resigned and William D. Strampnel — a former dean of Michigan State University’s osteopathic medical school and Nassar’s longtime supervisor — was charged with criminal sexual conduct, misconduct by a public official and two counts of willful neglect of duty.

“Michigan State is pleased that we have been able to agree in principle on a settlement that is fair to the survivors of Nassar’s crimes,” said Robert Young, a lawyer for the university, told the Times. “We appreciate the hard work both sides put into the mediation, and the efforts of the mediator, which achieved a result that is responsible and equitable.”



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It's Official: Malala Yousafzai Will Attend Oxford University Starting This Fall


Already the youngest woman to ever be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and be named a UN Messenger of Peace, girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai has yet another achievement to add to her growing list of accomplishments: Come this fall, she’ll be attending Oxford University in England.

In a tweet posted on Thursday, Yousafzai posted her acceptance notice and revealed that she will be studying philosophy, politics, and economics at the British University—the same institution where Yousafzai’s role model, the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, once studied.

The 20-year-old first became an international figure in 2012 when, after boarding a school bus, she was shot in the head by members of the Taliban. The then-15-year-old Yousafzai had been an outspoken advocate for girls’ rights—specifically, their right to a quality education—and was targeted by the Taliban for her beliefs. Following her recovery from the attack, she relocated to England.

“So excited to go to Oxford!!” she wrote. “Well done to all A-level students—the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead!”



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