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....

[The entire page is 342 words long]

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