# Chris Ernst

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chris_Ernst
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chris_Ernst.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ernst
> Source revision: 1336738272
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Christine Ernst** is an American former [rower](/source/Rowing_(sport)). She was in [1986 World Rowing Championships](/source/1986_World_Rowing_Championships) and won gold in the women's lightweight doubles event. She led protest a 1976 at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) about the [inadequate facilities provided to the women's crew](/source/Women's_sports#20th_Century_United_States_to_the_present)—the first such challenge under [Title IX](/source/Title_IX).[1]

## Early life

Ernst was born in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge,_Massachusetts). Her family moved to [Scituate, Massachusetts](/source/Scituate,_Massachusetts) when she was a young child. She trained in gymnastics where she challenged, and beat, the boys in her high school in arm wrestling matches in order to get use of the equipment.[2]: 97–98

She attended [Yale University](/source/Yale_University), receiving an undergraduate degree in 1976.[3][4]

## Rowing

Ernst began rowing her sophomore year in college, and by her senior year she was captain of the women's crew (rowing team).[5][4] However, there was no locker room available for the women's team, so they had to wait on the bus after practice while the men showered before they could return to campus.[6]

Ernst led a protest regarding the discrepancy in facilities for the women's crew compared to the men's team.[7][2] In early 1976, the nineteen members of the Yale women's crew wrote "[Title IX](/source/Title_IX)" on their bodies and went into athletic director Joni Barnett's office and took off their clothes, and then Ernst read a statement about the way they were being treated that began, "These are the bodies Yale is exploiting…"[8][1][9] This protest was noted by newspapers around the world, including *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*.[10][1] By 1977, a women's locker room was added to Yale's boathouse.[11]

After graduating from college, she was an assistant rowing coach at Yale and shifted her focus to sculling, rowing with two oars.[4] She was an alternate on the United States Olympic team for the [1976 Summer Olympics](/source/1976_Summer_Olympics), the first year where women's rowing was an option.[8][12] She also participated as an alternate in the [1984 Summer Olympics](/source/1984_Summer_Olympics).[12][4] In 1986 she won the world championship in lightweight double sculls competing with Carrey Beth Sands,[8] the first time the United States won a gold medal in the event.[13][14] In 1988 Ernst refused to participate in the [1988 Summer Olympics](/source/1988_Summer_Olympics) because of her opposition to the political situation regarding South Korea.[15]: 52

## Subsequent years

In 1980, Ernst was the first woman to become a unionized plumber in New Haven; as of 1982 she was one of four female plumbers in southern Connecticut.[16] As of 2012 she owns a plumbing company, Pipelines, in [Roslindale, Massachusetts](/source/Roslindale,_Massachusetts).[8][3]

In 1999, [Mary Mazzio](/source/Mary_Mazzio) produced a documentary titled *[A Hero For Daisy](/source/A_Hero_For_Daisy)* which portrays Ernst, her rowing career, and her role in the 1976 protest at Yale.[17][5]

In 2012, Ernst was honored at [New England Sports Museum](/source/New_England_Sports_Museum)’s “The Tradition" in honor of her role in leading the Yale protest.[12][18]

## See also

- [Mary I. O'Connor](/source/Mary_I._O'Connor)

## References

1. Adelson, Eric (2016-08-13). ["How a naked protest changed women's rowing forever"](https://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-a-naked-protest-changed-womens-rowing-forever-215616599.html). Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.

1. Boyne, Daniel J., [*The Red Rose Crew : a true story of women, winning, and the water*](https://worldcat.org/oclc/1192472548), ISBN 978-1-5414-3503-2. [OCLC 1192472548](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1192472548), retrieved 2022-06-10

1. Dupont, Kevin Paul (June 17, 2012). ["'76 Yale crew stood up for women's rights – The Boston Globe"](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/06/16/former-yale-rower-chris-ernst-honored-for-forcing-changes-women-athletics/67fjt0fIH8lJ6Oy3bE7KmL/story.html). *BostonGlobe.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Hine, Tommy (1984-07-15). ["Shaking off boycott blues"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103524698/shaking-off-boycott-blues/). *Hartford Courant*. p. 180. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Huebner, Barbara (21 October 1999). "Rowers find a hero Yale protest made splash in Title IX". *Boston Globe; Boston, Mass.*. pp. E1.

1. O'Connor, Karen (2010-08-18). [*Gender and Women's Leadership: A Reference Handbook*](https://books.google.com/books?id=-3J_3pDNZlkC&dq=chris+ernst&pg=PA855). Sage. p. 855. ISBN 978-1-4129-6083-0.

1. Clegg, Ellen (8 September 2000). "How eight women rowing a boat turned the tide". *Boston Globe; Boston, Mass.*. pp. D3.

1. Bamberger, Michael (May 7, 2012). ["Naked Power"](https://vault.si.com/vault/2012/05/07/naked-power). *Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Riley, Lori (May 24, 1992). ["Yale Heard Naked Truth in Protest"](https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1992-05-24-0000201585-story.html). *Hartford Courant*

1. ["Yale Women Strip To Protest a Lack Of Crew's Showers"](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/04/archives/yale-women-strip-to-protest-a-lack-of-crews-showers.html). *The New York Times*. 1976-03-04. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2022-06-27.

1. Wulf, Steve (2012-06-14). ["ESPN The Magazine – The 1976 protest that helped define Title IX movement"](https://www.espn.com/espnw/title-ix/article/7985418/espn-magazine-1976-protest-helped-define-title-ix-movement). *Espn.com*. Retrieved 2019-03-11.

1. Connolly, John (2012-06-19). ["Ernst honored for courageous stand"](https://www.bostonherald.com/2012/06/19/ernst-honored-for-courageous-stand/). *Boston Herald*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20220424183902/https://www.bostonherald.com/2012/06/19/ernst-honored-for-courageous-stand/) April 24, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. ["U.S. Women Row to Gold"](https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/24/sports/us-women-row-to-gold.html). *The New York Times*. 1986-08-24. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. ["US women row away with gold"](https://www.newspapers.com/clip/103524510/us-women-row-away-with-gold/). *The Boston Globe*. 1986-08-24. p. 76. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Ivry, Benjamin (1988). [*Regatta : a celebration of rowing*](http://archive.org/details/regattacelebrati0000ivry). London : Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-69936-9.

1. Cavanaugh, John (1982-07-18). ["More Women Join Building Trades"](https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/18/nyregion/more-women-join-building-trades.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Rosenbladt, Oli (May 5, 1999). ["'A Hero for Daisy' – Chris Ernst Rocks the Boat"](https://www.row2k.com/features/93/-a-hero-for-daisy----chris-ernst-rocks-the-boat/). *row2k.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

1. Ryan, Bob (June 20, 2012). ["Robert Parish among fine group at Tradition – The Boston Globe"](https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/06/20/robert-parish-among-boston-sports-icons-feted-tradition/fbXY6CAhDdMTlS3krpyvJN/story.html). *BostonGlobe.com*. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

## Further reading

- Gilder, Ginny (2015). [*Course correction : a story of rowing and resilience in the wake of Title IX*](http://archive.org/details/coursecorrection0000gild). Boston : Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-7477-0. [OCLC 884480099](https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/884480099)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chris Ernst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ernst) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Ernst?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.