It's Title IX's 36th birthday, but as the T-9 blog reminds us

...while commemorating Title IX on its anniversary, I want to also point also out that despite the statute's 36 years, Title IX enforcement -- especially in the context of athletics -- is not nearly so old. Opponents tied up the enforcement regulations governing athletics with political and judicial battles throughout the 1970s and '80s, and even succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to hold the statute inapplicable to programs, like athletics, that don't directly receive federal funds.

Even though Congress amended the legislation several years later to restore Title IX's applicability to athletics, the Reagan and Bush administrations weren't exactly enthusiastic about enforcing Title IX's mandate. In fact, it wasn't really until the Supreme Court held in 1992 that plaintiffs could sue institutions under Title IX violations for money damages that institutions began taking compliance seriously. Judicial confirmation that Title IX's private right of action extends to sexual harassment by one's peers, and retaliation against third parties, is an even more recent development.