Billie Jean King to receive AmericaÂs top civilian honor
Kudos to CSULA alumna...
ÂBillie Jean King is a remarkable person. Besides her tennis accomplishments, she has been a highly influential advocate for social change and a true inspiration to thousands of people throughout the world. WeÂre extremely proud and fortunate to list her among our alumni.
ÂBillie Jean KingÂs effort has helped hundreds of young men and women earn college degrees while pursuing their competitive dreams of playing college sports. Without the generous support of Billie Jean, the Cal State L.A. Athletics Program would not come close to realizing the levels of academic and competitive success it currently enjoys.Â
-- Cal State L.A. Athletics Director Dan Bridges
Cal State L.A. congratulates Billie Jean King  a CSULA alumna, tennis legend and human rights activist  upon her selection to receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nationÂs highest civilian honor. Calling King and the 15 other honorees Âagents of change, President Barack Obama praised the recipients for Âbreaking down barriers and lifting up their fellow citizens. He will present the awards at an Aug. 12 ceremony.
Among the other 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees are former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OÂConnor; leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa Desmond Tutu; Senator Edward Kennedy; civil rights leader and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Rev. Joseph Lowery; and internationally recognized theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.
You can join us in honoring this extraordinary person at the 12th Annual Billie Jean King and Friends event Oct. 17 in Pasadena. Click for details: http://tinyurl.com/BillieJeanKing-and-Friends.
King attended and played tennis at Cal State L.A. from 1961 to 1964. She arrived on campus fresh with the 1961 Wimbledon doubles title. She repeated the feat in 1962 as an undergraduate. In her career, she won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 20 at Wimbledon and 13 at the U.S. Open.
A champion of gender equity in sports and the society, King is widely known for the ÂBattle of the Sexes in 1973, in which she defeated former Wimbledon menÂs tennis champion Bobby Riggs.
In 1986, King was named to Cal State L.A.Âs Athletic Hall of Fame and, in 1997, she was awarded an honorary doctorate at the UniversityÂs Commencement ceremony.
Since hosting the first ÂBillie Jean King and Friends event at Cal State L.A. in 1998, King has helped raise more than $1.8 million to provide scholarships to student-athletes in 11 sports at Cal State L.A., and two endowed scholarships have been created.
- The White House press release:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Names-Medal-of-Freedom-Recipients/ - Remarks by President Obama at the Medal of Freedom ceremony, Aug. 12, 2009:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-Medal-of-Freedom-ceremony/ - CNN video clip featuring the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/12/medal.of.freedom/index.html#cnnSTCVideo - Billie Jean KingÂs website:
http://www.billiejeanking.com - Cal State L.A. TODAY Facebook congratulatory note:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=110576343807&ref=mf - Billie Jean King and Friends, Honoring Joe Shapiro event (2006 press release):
/univ/ppa/newsrel/bjking2006.htm - NCAAÂs 100 Most Influential Student-Athletes of the Last Century (press release):
/univ/ppa/newsrel/bjking-ncaatop.htm - NCAA FordÂs Award (press release):
http://www.csulaathletics.com/news/2009/1/20/1-20%20bjk%20receives%20ford%20award.aspx - Billie Jean KingÂs Doctor of Humane Letters (press release):
/univ/ppa/newsrel/graddoc.htm - Cal State L.A.Âs Athletics Hall of Fame:
http://www.csulaathletics.com/hof.aspx?tab=halloffame
