The April 9 article, 鈥溾��End of an era鈥�: Exploring the legacy of Pembroke College鈥澛� omitted one important Pembroke cohort 鈥斅爏tudent-athletes. As a result of the merger of Pembroke College and Brown University, intercollegiate athletics moved from oversight of the Pembroke physical education department to the Brown Athletic Department. For decades women who wanted to compete in full--blown intercollegiate sports were limited by policies which had been in place from the time that Bessie Rudd 鈥�30 became director of physical education at Pembroke in 1931 until the merger, at which point Rudd鈥檚 successor, Arlene Gorton 鈥�52, began to transition the so-called 鈥淐lub Varsity Teams鈥� into bona fide varsity programs. It took much more time for women鈥檚 teams to reach a point of equity with the men鈥檚 teams, but the merger and the 1972 Title IX legislation paved the way.
Peter Mackie 鈥�59
猫咪社区 Archivist, Robinson Collection of Brown Athletics
