Before Title IX reshaped the landscape of American education in 1972, Tenafly High School, like many other public schools across the country, offered no organized sports for girls. Boys filled tennis courts, gymnasiums, and fields, while girls watched from the sidelines, their opportunities limited not by talent but by mere tradition. For one determined student, Jan Bernstein (’75), this gender inequality was impossible to accept. Her efforts, alongside those of her parents and classmates, would launch a movement that would forever redefine what fairness means at THS.
In the years before Title IX, Jan was already passionate about tennis. With no girls’ team to join, she practiced with the boys’ varsity tennis squad and trained privately with her own coach. “It wasn’t that I wanted special treatment,” Bernstein recalls. “I just wanted a fair chance to play—to compete the same way the boys did.”
Her parents, both passionate feminists, recognized the unfairness of the situation and decided that something urgent needed to be done. When Title IX passed in 1972, guaranteeing equal opportunities for girls in federally funded educational programs, her parents decided it was time for action. “They knew it was completely inequitable not to have girls’ teams,” Bernstein said. “So they helped start organizing on behalf of all the parents.” While her parents rallied the adults, Bernstein began organizing students to sign a petition. At heart, her goal remained to encourage her classmates to speak up. “My friend, who was the editor, wrote an article in The Echo in support of establishing girls’ teams,” she said. “And it became a movement of students, parents, and interested parties, which started to spread. People from all grades were signing, and it became a real movement.”
As student signatures poured in, the issue was brought before the Tenafly Board of Education—but only after parents forced it onto the meeting agenda. When students weren’t able to attend the school-night board meetings, Jan’s parents, amongst many others, took their place. Initially, the board’s resistance came from a cost perspective, using financial concerns to make their case—they restated all the arguments initially made against Title IX. That’s when Jan’s father delivered the line that changed everything:
“A tennis ball for a boy costs the same amount that it does for a girl.”
To this, the room erupted in laughter and applause. “At that point, it was clear that it was over. There was no good argument not to have girls’ teams,” Bernstein said. Federal law was on their side, and with that, common sense.
Soon after, Tenafly formed its first girls’ teams: tennis, volleyball, and basketball. Though the school had been one of the last in Bergen County to create girls’ programs, the new teams quickly brought students together, and they were strikingly successful. The tennis team quickly rose to become one of the best in the Bergen County Scholastic League, emerging as champions for 5 consecutive years from 1974 to 1978, and again for 7 consecutive years from 1981 to 1987.
“The guys supported the girls’ matches,” Bernstein remembers. “It really united the school community. It was wonderful.” The first girls’ tennis team was coached by an English teacher—many players, like Jan, also trained outside of school. But it wasn’t just about competition; it was about belonging. “I think I really enjoyed the camaraderie and collegiality,” Bernstein reflects. “It was the first team I had ever been a part of, and that became such an important part of my life.”
Today, Tenafly High School offers 13 girls’ varsity teams; a direct legacy of those early activists who demanded change. And Bernstein’s plaque remains on the THS hall of fame with the first line reading, “Successful advocate for the establishment of girls’ interscholastic teams at THS.” After these years of fighting for gender equity, Jan’s persistence for the continuation of Title IX never ended, and it sparked her role in creating The Joan and James Bernstein Fund at the National Women’s Law Center in honor of her parents’ contributions to gender equity at THS.
After high school, Bernstein continued her tennis journey, playing for the University of Pennsylvania. But even at this Division One collegiate level, inequities persisted. “When I got to Penn, the women’s teams got the old uniforms and used vans. It was a struggle,” she said. Determined to make a difference, she became a leader in the Women’s Athletic Association, eventually chairing the organization. “It has evolved significantly over the years,” Bernstein said, “but there are always issues when it comes to gender equity in athletics. I felt really great having gone through the experience in high school; it really helped me.” For Bernstein, the lessons from those early days at Tenafly still resonate.
More than half a century after Title IX, the Tenafly Girls Varsity Tennis Team has become one of the best teams in Northern New Jersey, earning the title of Sectional Champions this year. Jan Bernstein’s story is a testament to the hardship of gender equity after Title IX. Its immense impact is one to inspire years to come. “Sometimes you need to speak up and press for what is right, and what you are entitled to,” she says. “Don’t let people tell you it’s too expensive, or it’s not your time, because it is your time. You are entitled, and you are worth it.”
