A Team Effort for Gender Equity
In 2022, Cal Athletics celebrated the successful close of its Gender Equity Campaign, which was completed with a generous gift from the Banatao family. The campaign is the first of its kind at UC Berkeley to focus entirely on advancing women’s sports facilities and programs. The gifts support the development of new facilities for softball and beach volleyball.
The campaign’s success was realized as the campus honored the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark federal law enacted in 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving any type of federal financial aid.
Bill Ausfahl ’61 helped lead the campaign, inspired by wife Trudy, their daughters-in-law, and five granddaughters, all of whom are athletes. The university named the softball meeting facility The Trudy in his wife’s honor.
The Banatao family’s gift brought the campaign over the finish line and named the Banatao Beach Volleyball Stadium.
“The Banatao family is honored to support Cal’s commitment to gender equality in athletics, especially on this significant anniversary of Title IX,” said Rey ’96, Desi ’99 and ’04, and Tala ’02, in a statement at the time of the gift.
