It took six-and-a-half decades, but Billie Jean King is about to be a college graduate. In her defense, she’s been pretty busy.
The 12-time Grand Slam singles champion and women’s sports pioneer is set to get her college degree from Cal State LA on Monday at the age of 82, according to USA Today’s Cydney Henderson. She had originally enrolled in the school from 1961 to 1964 before leaving to focus on her tennis career.
King will reportedly be the first member of her immediate family to graduate from college and described the feat as “up there” on her list of most meaningful accomplishments, which includes a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her one regret is her family won’t be there to see her commencement speech:
“That’s my one regret. They’re not alive, but boy would they be happy,” King said. “My parents, oh my God, would be over the moon because they’re big on education. They told (my brother) Randy we have to get our education.”
Randy Moffitt, a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, died last year at the age of 76.
King’s degree is reportedly in history and she had apparently been mulling the idea of returning to college for a while, but thought she needed two more years to earn her degree. However, that outlook changed when Marjori Gantman, managing director of her BJK Enterprises firm, reviewed her transcripts:
“I was just talking out loud and (Gantman) goes, ‘Well, let me check.’ So she checks and she goes, ‘Billie, you have three years (completed). I went, ‘Three years? Oh, I’m going back for sure,'” King recalled.
What helped the process if the introduction of remote learning to higher education. King has to frequently travel, but was able to take classes online. Her coursework reportedly included LGBT Political History in United States to Historiography, the History of Latin American Women and Gender and Historical Research & Writing.
Of course, King is no small figure in the history of gender in America, having founded the Women’s Tennis Association and fought for equal pay and recognition for years. The success of that effort can be judged by the fact that 10 of the 15 highest-paid female athletes last year were tennis players.
She was still only a student in a class, though, which is how she reportedly ended up having to write an essay on Title IX, which she helped get passed in 1972. Imagine being the professor grading that paper.