As the sports community reflects on the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and its impact, it is important to acknowledge the accomplishments, impact and progress that has been made, but also the continual push to move forward.
The University of Minnesota Duluth is proud of its athletic heritage and the women who have contributed to the rich tradition of Bulldog Athletics and its great successes. The Athletic Department will celebrate and mark this historic occasion with a special live guest panel on Tuesday, May 24th from 3:00-4:00 pm at the Marshall Performing Arts Center (MPAC), on the UMD campus. This event, presented by the UMD's Commission for Women, will feature some of the most decorated Bulldog alumnae over the past 50 years and will be free of charge to the public. Those who are unable to attend will be able to view a live web stream of the event at umdbulldogs.com/watch.Â
The event, which will cap off an historic athletic season for the Bulldogs, which will be a panel format, will be moderated by UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo and consist of five extraordinary individuals. Joining the Bulldogs for this special recognition of Title IX will be UMD women's basketball alum Lindsey Dietz (06'), women's basketball and softball alum Kristi Plante (95', 98'), women's hockey alum Maddie Rooney (20'), women's track and field alum Katie Schofield (04', 05'), and Bulldog Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator Karen Stromme.  Â
In the mid-1960's UMD athletics began to sponsor varsity competition for a handful of women's programs. These women were pioneers and helped create the opportunities, scholarships and experiences that the Bulldog women student-athletes have today. Today, UMD Athletics currently sponsors nine women's varsity sports of a total of 16 UMD athletic programs (10 of those programs are led by women), has nearly 175 female student-athletes and commits over $1 million to women's scholarships annually.
"It is truly an honor to facilitate this celebration and welcome back such impressive, accomplished and distinguished alumni," said UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo. "The history and legacy of Title IX and its impact on the future landscape of women's athletics has been universal. The women who have competed as Bulldogs over the past half century have achieved excellence and this is a great opportunity to celebrate their dedication and achievements as student-athletes and beyond."
Those looking to attend the event on the 24th can find free campus parking options by clicking here (attendees are encouraged to park in the Pay Lot G for free parking). Directions to the Marshall Performing Arts Center (MPAC) can be found here.Â
Following the event a small reception will be held with panelists, guests, and attendees.
Â
More information on the panelists:
Dr. Lindsey Dietz
Lindsey is one of just two, three-time women's basketball All-Americans UMD has ever produced and the only individual to lead the Bulldogs in scoring four straight years. She occupies the No. 2 position on UMD's all-time scoring charts with 2,115 points in 104 games (20. 3 ppg) and still owns six school records, including field goal accuracy in a single season (.664 set in 2005-06) and most free throws made (678) in a career. She earned a spot on the NCAA Division II Kodak/WBCA All-America First Team two straight seasons and landed three consecutive Daktronics All-American citations. Was voted the North Central Conference Player of the Year om 2002-03 and the NSIC Player of the Year in 2003-04. Most recently honored in the Lyda Hill Philanthropies' IF/THEN® Initiative presents #IfThenSheCan – The Exhibit. This monumental exhibit of 120 3-D printed statues celebrates contemporary women innovators in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and features the most statues of real women ever assembled together.
Kristi Plante
Plante, a member of the 2015 Duluth East Athletic Hall of Fame, was a star two sport student-athlete at UMD. She was named Outstanding Female Senior Athlete and Top Scholar Athlete for the Bulldogs in 1999. During the 1994 Softball season, she led the league in RBI's on her way to the NSIC RBI Championship. In 1995 Kristi was selected to the All-Conference Softball team and helped guide the Bulldogs to the 1995 NSIC Regular Season Championship. She graduated in 1995 with a criminology/psychology degree and again in 1998 with a Masters Degree of Industrial safety from UMD. Plante is also on the community advisory board of Hermantown and Proctors Community Education and a Board Member of the Duluth Heritage Foundation.
Maddie Rooney
Rooney sky-rocketed to fame after she backstopped the U.S. to a gold medal in arguably the greatest game in U.S. women's hockey history during the 2018 Olympics. In addition to 29 saves, Rooney stopped Canada's last two shooters to help the U.S. win its first Olympic gold medal since 1998 in a 3-2 penalty shootout thriller at the Gangneung Centre in South Korea. Rooney also won two World Championship gold medals with the U.S. National Team during her time at UMD. She also was named the 2018 Team Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation at the 39th Annual Salute to Women in Sports Gala. Rooney became UMD's all-time career saves leader on January 17, 2020 and finished her career with a staggering 3,449 stops. Rooney now owns three of the top four single-season records for saves in UMD history, including the fourth most of 964 saves set this season. One of only two Bulldog goaltenders to have made more than 1,000 stops in a season, Rooney also owns both the most games played by a UMD netminder (122) and minutes played (7,277:49), as well as third-most wins with 59.
Dr. Katie Schofield
Schofield was a member of four consecutive Indoor and Outdoor NSIC Track & Field Conference Championship teams during her tenure, competing in both sprinting and jumping events. As a leg of the 4 x 400 meter relay team, she helped set a (previous) school-record and earned two NSIC Indoor Conference titles and three NSIC Outdoor Conference titles in the event. She earned her undergraduate (exercise science) and master's (environmental health and safety) degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth and her doctorate from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She returned to UMD in a faculty role after a decade-long career as a safety professional in the insurance industry. Currently, she is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Director of the Master of Environmental Health and Safety program, also serving as a faculty representative on the Campus Athletic Committee. Â
Karen Stromme
Stromme served as the UMD women's basketball head coach from 1984 through 2005 along with leading the women's golf program at UMD from 1988 through 1991. She spent 21 years directing the Bulldog women's basketball team and compiled a 440-184 overall record (for a .705 winning percentage) and posted 21 consecutive winning seasons while also guiding the Bulldogs to 12 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference titles, four of a possible five NSIC Tournament Championships, eight NCAA II regional playoff berths and seven appearances in the NAIA National Tournament. Stromme chaired the USA Women's Basketball Team Selection Committee for the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games and is a member of the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the St. Olaf College Hall of Fame. Since 2004, she has held administrative titles and been designated as the Senior Woman Administrator for the Bulldogs. Stromme is the advisor for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at UMD, which was awarded the inaugural Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference SAAC Cup in 2017-18, and recently was instrumental in the Bulldogs being recognized with the 2022 NCAA Division II Award of Excellence.Â
Â
About Title IX
Title IX is part of the Education Amendments of 1972 and was signed into law June 23. It states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."Â
According to the Women's Sports Foundation, there are three parts to Title IX as it applies to athletics programs: (1) effective accommodation of student interests and abilities (participation), (2) athletic financial assistance (scholarships), and (3) other program components (the "laundry list" of benefits to and treatment of athletes). The "laundry list" includes equipment and supplies, scheduling of games and practice times, travel and daily per diem allowances, access to tutoring, coaching, locker rooms, practice and competitive facilities, medical and training facilities and services, publicity, recruitment of student-athletes and support services.
Â
Â
Â
