Varsity letter
Varsity Letters or Varsity Letter Awards (Varsity: English for school or university team - in British English also outdated for university itself -, Letter: English for letter, Award: English for distinction) are annual awards that are traditional in the education system of the United States awarded for athletic achievements in school and university teams at American educational institutions of secondary education and universities , but can now also be awarded for artistic or academic achievements. The acquisition of a letter is referred to in English as to letter (German can be translated extremely roughly with "letters"). The letter usually worn on the side of the heart is mostly made of chenille fabric in the block style and is between ten and twenty centimeters high.
history
The tradition of the letters has its origin in sports uniforms with the initials of the university. For example, baseball teams were difficult to distinguish: the home team usually wore white and the guests gray. In 1865 the baseball uniform at Harvard University was adorned with an "H", and ten years later the football uniform too . Deserved players were allowed to keep their uniforms at the end of the season, which resulted in the ceremonial awarding of Varsity Letters. They are mostly embroidered on varsity sweaters , alpaca pullovers with a V-neck, or sewn on so-called varsity jackets or letterman jackets (German: college jacket).
In the years before (and even after) Title IX , the education amendment from 1972 ( Education Amendment of 1972 ) against sexual discrimination in federal funded educational institutions, women's teams were not at times as part of the athletics department (which is not to be confused with the physical education) considered and refused varsity letters to their athletes, for example at Vanderbilt University , where the ladies made their own varsity letters in 1977. The same applies to Michigan State University before 1980. It was not until 2002 that the athletes concerned were honored with the prizes in a ceremony.
Individual evidence
- ^ Jamie Richardson: History of the Letter Award Tradition. On: Varisity Leather Award Society's website (sic!); Phoenix, AZ, October 10, 1999. Retrieved February 24, 2018 (in English).
- ^ Sarah K. Fields: Female Gladiators. Gender, Law, and Contact Sport in America. Urbana / Chicago, 2008: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-07584-1 (pages 5–11, in English)
- ↑ Kelly Belanger: Invisible Seasons. Title IX and the Fight for Equity in College Sports. Syracuse, 2016: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3470-6 (pages 92 and 207, in English).