title IX
A Woman ’ s Place is On the Water
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Title IX , the federal law that has proven the Magna Carta of women ’ s sports , we look back on what women have meant to the Head Of The Charles — and what the sport of rowing has meant to Title IX . In 1976 , The Yale women ’ s crew brought Title IX from the fine print to the headlines .
Samantha Laine
After 40 years , a world championship , two turns at representing her country in the Olympic games and making some women ’ s rights history through her sport , the thrill of being in a rowing shell continues to draw Chris Ernst to the river .
“ It ’ s the combination of being on the water and making it go that sucks you in ,” Ernst , 58 , says as she gazes out at the Charles River on a late summer ’ s evening , the hum of traffic providing a backdrop to the calm waters . “ Even in the middle of the city , there ’ s something different about being on the water .”
The setting sun casts a golden hue on the treetops surrounding the Cambridge Boat Club . Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School students row their eights to the dock , finished for the day . The wind in the yard tousles Ernst ’ s short , sandy-blonde hair as she takes in the evening and the river . Her blue eyes light up behind her wire-framed glasses as she describes the paradox of an athletic endeavor that can be at once punishingly physical and yet serenely tranquil .
“ When you ’ re rowing really hard , you feel it in your upper legs . The blood in your head and lungs is making so much noise — between your breathing and circulation — that your body is roaring ,” she said . “ You have that sense of it being an effort at the start of the stroke , but there ’ s this moment of balance where you release the water and come up for the next stroke , and everything is in balance .”
Ernst rowed on the U . S . Olympic teams in Montreal in 1976 and Los Angeles in 1984 . She won a 1986 world championship in the women ’ s lightweight double sculls with partner C . B . Sands . And this past June , she shared the stage at the TD Garden with the likes of Pedro Martinez and the Patriots ’ Rodney Harrison as the New England Sports Museum honored her with one of their “ Tradition ” awards . Ernst is recognized for her rowing achievements to be sure , but in particular she is remembered for one off-the-water moment in 1976
March 3 , 1976 : Joni Barnett , Yale ’ s athletic director , listens as Chris Ernst reads the team ’ s statement . photo : Nina Haight / Yale Daily News 2012 Head Of The Charles 23