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CANNON, GERALDINE 1935-

WOMAN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST

A Would-Be Physician

Geraldine Cannon wanted to be a doctor. But when this young grandmother applied to the University of Chicago and Northwestern University medical schools in 1974 at the age of thirty-nine, she was told that anyone over the age of thirty had little chance of being admitted. This struck her as unfair to women, who are more likely than men to interrupt their educations to raise a family. Cannon, then a senior at Trinity College in Illinois, complained to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW).

Bureaucracy

Her complaint vanished into HEW's bureaucracy. Frustrated, she took her case to federal courts and the lower courts, but they told her only HEW could enforce the section of the civil rights laws, Title IX, that bans sex discrimination against students and applicants to educational institutions receiving federal funds. Finally, in May 1979 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled six to three that individuals could bring sex discrimination suits against schools and colleges through the courts.

A Breakthrough for Woman's Rights

Women's groups applauded the decision, and so did White House special assistant Sarah Weddington, who argued it was better to have individuals able to bring their cases to court than to have to rely on HEW, which was hopelessly backlogged with discrimination complaints. This decision of the high court made people aware of their rights to bring suit under Title VI (race discrimination) and Title IX (sex discrimination).

A Nurse Instead

But the period of five years it took Geraldine Cannon to get legal action was too long for her to wait. By the time the Supreme Court ruled on her discrimination complaint, she had completed nursing training and was a surgical nurse at Skokie Valley Community Hospital in Illinois.