Soccer legend Mia Hamm, who won two Olympic gold medals and two Women’s World Cups as a member of the United States women’s national team, will speak at the Council for Women of Boston College Colloquium on April 12 at 6 p.m. in the Margot Connell Recreation Center. The event celebrates the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a landmark civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools or educational programs.
Mia Hamm
Following the talk, Patti Phillips, CEO of Women Leaders in College Sports and founder of Women Leaders Performance Institute, will moderate a Q&A with Hamm. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Widely considered the best women’s soccer player in history, Hamm once held the record for international goals scored. She was twice awarded the ESPY for Female Athlete of the Year and twice named FIFA Women’s Player of the Year. Retiring from professional soccer in 2004 after an illustrious 17-year career, she was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame three years later. In 2012, ESPN named her the greatest female athlete of the past 40 years.
Hamm continues to serve as an inspiration to young girls looking to rise to the pinnacle of the sporting world. She has maintained an active presence within the soccer community and has served as an outspoken advocate for Title IX and gender equality across sporting lines.
In 1999, she established the Mia Hamm Foundation, a national non-profit dedicated to raising funds and awareness for those in need of a marrow or cord blood transplant and to the development of more opportunities for young women in sport. Hamm is also a part owner of Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club and the expansion franchise, Angel FC of the National Women’s Soccer League.
Established in 2002, the Council for Women of Boston College is dedicated to furthering the roles of women as leaders and active participants in the University and seeks to help shape the University’s future and to support its mission through the engagement of the women of Boston College. Launched in 2015, the CWBC Colloquium hosts exceptional thought leaders to consider contemporary issues through the lens of women’s leadership. The Colloquium is made possible by the CWBC and the Institute for the Liberal Arts.
Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | April 2022