As the Hofstra University Department of Athletics celebrates the 50th anniversary of the passing of Title IX, we will honor, acknowledge, and inform our University community about some of the members of the Pride who helped make a difference at Hofstra and paved the way for today's current student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and teams. Leading up to the June 23 anniversary of the passage of Title IX, Hofstra Athletics will feature many individuals who played a role in enacting change or those whose experiences at Hofstra were enhanced by the efforts of those who came before them.

Title IX is a federal civil rights law in the United States of America that was passed as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

Please consider a gift to celebrate and support the 50th anniversary of Title IX! All proceeds from this campaign will go directly towards our Hofstra Athletics Pride Club account for women's athletics. 

This week, we feature a Q&A with former Hofstra volleyball student-athlete Anne Marie Anderson (nee Jeffords).

Anderson, a 1988 graduate of Hofstra, was a member of the Flying Dutchwomen from 1985 to 1988. The 1988 team Co-Most Valuable Player, she also served as a team captain. Anderson ranks eighth all-time at Hofstra in total blocks with 346, seventh all-time in block solos, and ninth all-time in program history with 148 matches played. 

Since graduating from Hofstra, Anderson has shined in her professional career as a sports broadcaster. While a student at Hofstra, she worked for SportsChannel and started her career at ESPN. In addition to ESPN, Anderson has also worked for ABC, CBS, and NBC. She has earned three Emmy Awards and been part of six Olympic Games broadcasts. She is one of the most experienced and versatile female play-by-play broadcasters in the entire country. 

Anderson is a highly-regarded keynote speaker and emcee who regularly delivers addresses in multiple formats from college graduation commencement speeches to national championship awards banquets and corporate team sessions about her experiences working with some of the most elite athletes and teams in the world and how corporations, schools, and individuals can apply similar processes to their own lives.

Q: You had an excellent career playing for the Hofstra volleyball team under the direction of hall of fame head coach Fran Kalafer. What life lessons did Coach Kalafer instill in you all as it relates to Title IX and women in sports that have helped you throughout your professional career?
 
A: I was so fortunate to have Fran Kalafer as my coach at Hofstra and Cindy Lewis as our athletic director. Those two women shaped my attitude and belief system in terms of how I carry myself in the world more than I could have ever predicted. Coach Kalafer has taught me so much including one phrase that I use at least once per week. In my sophomore year at Hofstra, as we voted for team captain, Fran looked me dead in the eye and said "if you don't vote for yourself, don't expect anyone else to". THAT stuck with me. I was a sophomore who thought "who am I to be captain?"  But I also knew I could lead and it wasn't about age. I voted for myself and another teammate and I was indeed co-captain that year.  That moment, though perhaps seemed insignificant, has helped me throughout my life when applying for positions in my television career. VOTE FOR YOURSELF! If you feel you are best qualified then make it known, take the risk and make your case. I repeat "if you don't vote for yourself, don't expect anyone else to" so many times to young women and men who are stretching their limits as they climb the corporate ladder.  
 
Q: You began your career in sports broadcasting in the infancy of women in that profession. Who were some of your mentors and what made you choose this career path?
 
A: I knew very early in my life - perhaps by 10 or 11 years old - that I wanted to be a sports journalist. I recently found my 7th grade creative writing journal and it is covered in pictures of athletes and clips from Sports Illustrated. It is remarkable now when I look back and see that and know that I have been fortunate to follow my childhood dream for the last 35 years. I have four older brothers with whom I watched and played sports with constantly growing up. I have vivid memories of sitting with my father when I was a young girl watching the Denver Broncos play. I didn't have any female mentors when I began my career in sports television precisely because there were so few of us, however I did have men (my father and brothers among them) who never seemed to question my path. As my career has progressed I indeed have several dear female friends and colleagues from whom I have taken inspiration: Robin Roberts, who has consistently pushed herself beyond the comfort zone to take on numerous roles from anchor, reporter, play by play announcer, and now anchor on Good Morning America. Robin is always thinking ahead and has a production company. Shelley Smith is a Los Angeles-based reporter for ESPN who taught me to be versatile. Shelley was originally a sportswriter who moved to television. She is one of the most intrepid reporters I know who has expanded to new sports and roles including sideline reporting and author of several books. Dana Jacobson, who now works for CBS on The Morning Show, was a young local reporter in Sacramento when we first met. She is the epitome of a grinder. You say "no" and she hears "not yet" and has carved out a dream role for herself at CBS. I observe, learn, and lean on these women when I am facing a new challenge to push myself and the boundaries which have occasionally been placed on me by others. 
 
Q: Looking back on your career and the evolution of women in sports broadcasting, how do you feel the profession has evolved and what more do you think needs to be done?
 
A: When I began my career at ESPN in 1989 straight out of graduation from Hofstra it seemed that there were two potential roles for women in front of the camera in sports television: sideline reporter or anchor.  I didn't know much at that time about women behind the camera but after joining the network I observed that women were producers but not usually in top level, executive positions. Now women are analysts, executives, reporters, anchors, essayists, hosts, play by play announcers, and more. There is, however, plenty more that needs to be done. I would like to see a female head of a major sports network. I would like to see more women in the C-suite. We need more women directing, running cameras and other tech positions. The goal for all of us women in sports broadcasting is that when we occupy a position traditionally held by a man (NBA pxp announcer ie: Lisa Byington/Kate Scott) we are not heralded as "female pxp" but rather just "play by play". When we lose the "female" distinction that will be a major victory in my mind. 
 
Q: Being around incredible female athletes on a regular basis in your current role – what has been the most rewarding part of that as it relates to seeing the opportunities for women in sports now?
 
A: The most rewarding part of my career in terms of the way female athletes have progressed is observing the way in which they carry themselves in the world. These athletes take up SPACE. I have covered the WNBA for six years, and watching the players of the W impact the senate race by advocating for that in which they believe was inspiring. They created change with their voices. I have seen so many women playing college sports use their platform to generate conversation about race, inequity, poverty, and mental health in a way that I could have never imagined when I was an athlete. The women on the court, pool, field, and pitch now are a FORCE politically and societally that has me very excited to witness the future.  
 
Q: As a mother, how do you go about educating your children about Title IX and the continued fight for opportunities for women and girls in sports?
 
A: I am the mother of three children - two boys and a girl. As they have watched me build my career throughout their lives they have naturally become invested in sports that both women and men play. We never refer to it as "women's basketball" or "women's soccer" in my house. It is the same game and they know that. My kids have come with me to work when invited by the coach and watched practices, film sessions, and games. I wanted them to see women compete, lead, coach, fail, succeed, and thrive. When Tara Vanderveer - Stanford women's basketball head coach - became the winningest coach in women's basketball they were pinned to the screen celebrating the accomplishment. The stories about how women not being able to play sports in college are completely incomprehensible to them because they have grown up only knowing a life in which girls and women can do that. Having said that, they were surprised last year to see the inequity between the weight rooms in the men's and women's NCAA Basketball Tournament facilities and they led to a family discussion about how much more room there is to achieve true equality. I let the boys know it isn't a task for only women to address but rather a responsibility of both men and women to work together to demand those opportunities and support.