By Maya Roberts

"Does Wesleyan even have a women’s squash team? Are they competitive?"

Yes. And Yes. 

There will always be things more important than women’s squash. Perhaps that is the problem. For the first time in five years, the Wesleyan Women’s Varsity Squash team won the division championship at the Yale Howe Cup. Nine out of our eleven players had not played before college. We practiced every day, playing matches on weekends and double-sessions over winter break.

Out of the twenty teams competing, we were the only one who could not afford to have our Alma Mater, "Wesleyan," printed on our uniforms. Sure, Harvard had their ensignia embroidered on theirs, and Dartmouth had very snazzy vest combos. The Wesleyan Women Cardinals, however, sported their second hand black skirts and white tops that they share with the tennis team.

Title 9 is something that women athletes have fought for and are still fighting for. That is – universities receive federal funding to provide equal amounts of funding for men and women’s teams. I’d like to see the day that our football team can’t afford to have "Wesleyan" printed on their uniforms. 

Unfortunately, our recognition comes not only from our funding, but from our newspaper. On the Tuesday, February 27, 2001 edition of the Argus, the men’s squash victory is prominently displayed, with a picture and all. The women, however, received not even two inches in the "Sports Shorts" column two weeks ago, when they too "Finish[ed] Season with Division Title." 

On a separate note, I would like to thank Brian Katten for having our picture up promptly. There are some members of the community who do support us. Check it out at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/wsquash/wsquash.html

Now, there was an article in the Argus several weeks ago about women’s squash. However, there were several egregious errors. First, I don’t think "Prince" or "Head" likes to advertise "Manta" by having "M’s" on their racquets, to be spun to decide who gets the serve. Second, the picture displayed on top was not only of a male player, but of someone who had already graduated! To clear up the record, Wesleyan does have a spirited, hard working squash team that competes. And yes, we are women. 

At Wesleyan, we pride ourselves on our diversity and our liberal arts education. Our team is certainly diverse – with purple hair and  international students – but the bureaucracy behind it is not. Sexism comes in all shapes and sizes. This, my fellow students, is an overt display of sexism, against female athletes. The relative size of the articles may just be a coincidence or a result of deadlines. However, I call on each of you, personally, to fight such injustices. Not because squash is so important, but because our woman are, athletes or not,
just as important as men.

 
Roberts is a member of the class of 2003 and the Wesleyan women’s squash team.