The rise of Women’s HistoryMonth has been building slowly for the past few decades. It began as a day of recognition and soon blossomed into a congressionally-appointed week and then a full month. Since the late eighties to early nineties, the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations have all used Congressional legislature to declare the month of March as Women’s History Month. The 2015 Women’s History Month theme is centered on weaving the stories of women’s lives. Though the month is reaching its end there is still time to reflect on Women’s History Month as it pertains to Martin and its University of Tennessee campus. It should be noted that numerous Tennessee women deserve to be mentioned and honored, but one woman in particular jumps into mind when thinking of UTM and women’s history – Pat Head Summit.
Growing up in Tennessee, no matter your level of interest in college sports, you have heard her name. The City of Martin even proudly displays signs marking UTM as her college home. In recent years, due to a diagnosis of early-onset dementia, Coach Summit has become more of background figure,but her iconic status and statistics still loom large in our state and across the country. As a student at UTM, she was a member of Chi Omega sorority and a member of the school’s most successful women’s basketball team, the 1972-73 team which compiled a 22-3 record. After college, Pat continued on to achieve numerous coaching honors and awards.
Pat Summit has been a trailblazer for women in her field. She went beyond just raising the bar for women. Her talent and hard work have set higher standards and goals for all coaches, players and collegiate athletics.
The UTM campus has become an amazing place for young women to grow and achieve. There are a wide variety of clubs and organization centered on women and their success. The female sororities founded on the UTM campus in the 1960s gave many young women new opportunities. Today, female oriented clubs are available in all departments and avenues of college life. The UT Martin Women’s Center is also available and works to provide educational programming on topics related to women’s issues. The Women’s Center also welcomes women and men and encourages connections between the campus and community at large.
Women’s paths to equality has been a long and uneasy road. It has been less than 100 years since women were granted suffrage. On a grand scale, college sports may not seem important, but it takes a person like Pat Head Summit to help all women reach higher levels of success and respect. The University of Tennessee at Martin has continued to be an open door for many female leaders who strive to learn from the amazing female leader, Pat Head Summit.
