Former Indiana Sen. Birch Bayh will participate in a panel discussion at Indiana University Bloomington on the impact of Title IX. Bayh, who represented the state of Indiana for 18 years (1962 to 1980) in the U.S. Senate, sponsored and co-authored the landmark 1972 legislation that pertains to equal opportunity for girls and women in all federally funded programs and activities including sports.

The discussion, jointly sponsored by IUB's School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the IU School of Law at Bloomington, will be held on Friday (Feb. 6) at 4 p.m. in the Moot Court Room of the law building. It is titled "Title IX: Outcomes and Opportunities," and panelists are expected to discuss the overall impact of the legislation and the opportunities it has provided to women.

Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. Title IX applies, with a few specific exceptions, to all aspects of federally funded education programs or activities. The impact of the legislation on participation by girls and women in sports has been highly publicized.

Bayh received his J.D. degree from the Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington in 1960 and an honorary degree from IU in 1995. During his 18 years serving Indiana in the Senate, Bayh authored two amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- the 25th Amendment on presidential succession and disability, and the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age. He also was co-author of the Bayh-Dole Act, which revitalized the nation's patent system, and was chief architect of the Juvenile Justice Act.

Bayh was chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 1977 to 1980. Upon leaving the Senate, he served as chairman of the National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence from 1984 to 1994. He continues to practice law with the Washington, D.C., firm Venable LLP.

Bayh has said that he sponsored Title IX legislation in the Senate because he wanted to grant the same rights and protection to women that were guaranteed to ethnic minorities in the 1964 Civil Rights Act, after which Title IX was patterned. He has called Title IX "the most important thing that's happened to women."

BAYH, Birch Evans, (1928 - )
Senate Years of Service: 1963-1981
Party: Democrat



BAYH, Birch Evans, (father of Evan Bayh), a Senator from Indiana; born in Terre Haute, Vigo County, Ind., January 22, 1928; attended the public schools; served in the United States Army 1946-1948; graduated Purdue University School of Agriculture at Lafayette in 1951; attended Indiana State University, Terre Haute, 1952-1953; graduated Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, 1960; was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1961 and commenced practice in Terre Haute; farmer and lawyer; member, State house of representatives 1954-1962, serving as minority leader in 1957 and 1961 and as speaker in 1959; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1962; reelected in 1968 and 1974 and served from January 3, 1963, to January 3, 1981; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1980; chairman, Select Committee on Intelligence (Ninety-fifth and Ninety-sixth Congresses); lawyer practicing in Washington, D.C.


Bibliography
Bayh, Birch. One Heartbeat Away: Presidential Disability and Succession. Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1968; Bayh, Birch. “The Twenty-fifth Amendment: Dealing with Presidential Disability.” Wake Forest Law Review 30:3 (Fall 1995).

Birch Evans Bayh II (born January 22, 1928) was a U.S. Senator from Indiana between 1963 and 1981. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in the 1976 election but lost to Jimmy Carter. He is the father of former Indiana governor and current US Senator Evan Bayh.
Bayh was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. After serving in the United States Army, he attended the Purdue University School of Agriculture and graduated in 1951. He later attended Indiana State University and Indiana University School of Law.
He served in the Indiana House of Representatives from 1954 to 1962. In the House, he rose to the position of Speaker and, in 1961, was admitted to the Indiana bar. He won the 1962 US Senate race in Indiana.
On June 19, 1964, Bayh, his wife, Senator Ted Kennedy and legislative aide Edward Moss were on board a small plane that crashed in heavy fog near Springfield, Massachusetts. Senator Bayh pulled a badly injured Senator Kennedy from the wreckage. Senator and Mrs. Bayh were relatively unhurt, while the pilot and Moss were both killed in the crash.
Bayh was influential in the passing of Title IX, the clause that gave women equal opportunities in sports and activities in public education.
As Chairman of the Senate subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, Bayh was the principal architect of two constitutional amendments:
The 25th Amendment, which established the rules for presidential succession and disability.
The 26th Amendment, which lowered the minimum voting age to 18.
Bayh was also the principal architect of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was not adopted.
Additionally, he served for many years on the Senate judiciary committee and was involved in two nominations in which the nominee was declined.
Bayh intended to run for the 1972 Democratic nomination for president, but his wife was diagnosed with cancer and he put his plans on hold. Before her death in 1979, Marvella Bayh became a leading cancer activist. In October 1975 Bayh announced his candidacy for the 1976 Democratic nomination. Bayh was considered a leading choice out of 12 candidates, and he was popular with organized labor and other liberal groups. However, his late start put him at a fundraising and organizational disadvantage. In January/February, Bayh finished third in Iowa behind Uncommitted delegates and Jimmy Carter and third in New Hampshire behind Carter and Morris K. Udall. A week later, Bayh finished a weak seventh place in the Massachusetts primary and ended his candidacy.
He ran for reelection for a fourth term in the 1980 election. Bayh and his opponent, Congressman and future vice president Dan Quayle, engaged in seven debates. In those debates, Quayle attacked Bayh's liberal voting record, which hurt Bayh, and he was defeated for reelection in the Republican landslide year. Bayh has since resumed his law practice.
In 2006, he joined a coalition named National Popular Vote Inc. to use the popular vote instead of the electoral college to elect the United States President [1