Cal State LA Celebrates Billie Jean King, Unveils Statue of Corridor of Famer

By Tennis Now | @Tennis_Now | Saturday, October 5, 2024Photo credit: J. Emilio Flores/Cal State LA

Billie Jean King is a social rights warrior and Corridor of Fame champion.

Now, King is a monumental determine on campus.

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Cal State LA honored beloved alumna Billie Jean King with the disclosing of a statue on the grassy space outdoors of the Bodily Schooling Constructing on the Billie Jean King Sports activities Complicated final week.

One of many biggest tennis gamers of all time, King’s affect prolonged past athletics as she bravely used her voice to advocate for gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights, and different social justice points. King, her spouse Ilana Kloss, and their good good friend and fellow former professional Rosie Casals are among the many most ardent supporters of Golden Eagles athletics.

“I’m so honored,” King stated. “This statue on our campus will join us perpetually. It jogs my memory that our legacy will not be what’s necessary. Your legacy is what different individuals say about you, however our contributions to our communities is what is going to outline us perpetually.”

The bronze statue by famend sculptor Brian Hanlon honors King’s quite a few contributions to Cal State LA and serves as inspiration to the campus group. It was made potential by way of beneficiant donations by Kloss, George and Kathy Hicker, and John Chapple.

The occasion drew a crowd of about 500, which included California State College Chancellor Mildred García, CSU Board of Trustees Chair Jack B. Clarke Jr., CSU Trustee Wenda Fong, and Assemblywoman and Cal State LA alumna Wendy Carrillo.

King ended her deal with to the gang with private information that drew a few of the occasion’s loudest cheers.

“Once I left this campus in 1964 to change into the No. 1 tennis participant on the planet, I used to be not in a position to full my diploma,” she stated. “I’m glad to announce that I will likely be re-enrolling in Cal State LA to complete my diploma. It’s by no means too late!”

King attended Cal State LA from 1961 to ’64 however left to focus on her tennis profession. She received her first Wimbledon ladies’s double titles whereas nonetheless a pupil on the college. King’s profession highlights embrace 12 Grand Slam singles championships (together with 5 Wimbledon and 4 U.S. titles), 16 ladies’s doubles and 11 in blended doubles. King was ranked No. 1 in six of 10 year-end polls from 1966 by way of 1975.

“The worth of a very good training has at all times been necessary to me, and I discovered an excellent deal whereas I used to be on this campus,” King stated. “At the moment, my focus was actually to be the best participant on the planet, No. 1 on the planet, and to vary our sport—from beginner to skilled. We used to get $14 a day. That needed to finish. So, I left Cal State LA and went on a journey to make my sport higher, to make a distinction within the lifetime of others. Tennis was my platform.”

She then turned towards the student-athletes and stated, “That’s one other factor—you’ve got a platform that only a few individuals have. So, use it to make this world a greater place.”

King used her standing as probably the most acknowledged athletes of the Nineteen Sixties and ’70s to marketing campaign tirelessly for parity for ladies in sports activities, and in 1972 testified in entrance of Congress on behalf of Title IX previous to its passage.

In 1973, King scored a victory for ladies’s equality when she outdueled Bobby Riggs within the “Battle of the Sexes” exhibition, which was watched dwell by 50 million TV viewers. In retelling the story to Cal State LA student-athletes previous to the statue unveiling, King stated her defeat of Riggs went past sports activities, and that followers—each ladies and men—have frequently instructed her that it impressed them to realize their objectives.

“Billie Jean King is the embodiment of our traditions of success and activism,” stated Cal State LA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes.

“We should always all be so fortunate,” stated CSU Chancellor García, “to be thought-about a hero, a shero, and a champion, even when solely in a small technique to only one different human being. Think about how exceedingly uncommon it’s to be this hero/shero and a champion to tens of millions throughout a number of domains. That’s Billie Jean King.”

In the course of the college’s fiftieth anniversary celebration in 1997, Cal State LA and the CSU bestowed King an honorary diploma of Physician of Humane Letters in recognition of her athletic achievements and the excellence these accomplishments delivered to her alma mater.

King can also be the recipient of the USA’ two highest civilian awards. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and simply final week she grew to become the primary particular person feminine athlete to obtain the Congressional Gold Medal.

King has hosted for 20 years the Billie Jean King & Mates occasion at Cal State LA, which has raised greater than $4.5 million for athletic scholarships.

“She embodies so a lot of Cal State LA’s and the CSU’s core values,” Garcia stated, “and she or he splendidly demonstrates the braveness to face boldly for these values—even within the face of criticism and adversity. What’s extra, she has opened the door of alternative for a lot of, serving to to lift tens of millions of {dollars} in scholarships right here at this nice establishment, Cal State LA, her alma mater.”