Tennis legend Billie Jean King received her diploma during a commencement ceremony in Los Angeles on Monday, graduating from California State University, Los Angeles at the age of 82. She left the university in 1964 to pursue a professional tennis career, and after 61 years, she finally completed her bachelor's degree in history.
A Trailblazing Career and a Long-Awaited Degree
King, who became the top-ranked tennis professional in the world within a few years of leaving college, has won 39 championships, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a congressional Medal of Honor. Throughout her career, she has been a vocal advocate for gender and pay equality.
In her commencement speech, King said, "It is a privilege for me to be here as a member of your graduating class. Yeah baby, only 61 years!" She recalled growing up in a working-class family, the daughter of a firefighter and a homemaker, and noted that she is the first in her immediate family to graduate college, like many of her fellow graduates.
Choosing Cal State LA for Its Progressive Tennis Program
King chose Cal State Los Angeles, then known as Los Angeles State College, because the tennis coach, Scotty Deeds, trained men and women together. She said, "Their approach to winning in tennis was revolutionary at the time. Even today most collegiate D-1 and D-2 tennis teams do not have the women and men practice together. Scotty and Dr Johnson had it right and they took the extra step for their student athletes."
While still a student, King distinguished herself as a tennis champion, winning Wimbledon doubles at age 18 with partner Karen Hantze, making them the youngest team to win at the time.
Fighting Discrimination from a Young Age
King told the crowd that her true motivation since childhood had been to fight discrimination. She first remembered feeling this calling at age 12 when she realized that virtually everyone at the tennis clubs where she trained was white. "I asked myself, where is everybody else?" King said. "From that day forward, I committed my life to equality and inclusion for all. Tennis is a global sport and it became my platform, but equality was my dream – to make the world a better place." She added, "We can never understand inclusion unless we've been excluded."
King, one of the first openly gay professional athletes, founded the Women's Tennis Association in 1973 and successfully campaigned for equal prize money at the US Open. That same year, she defeated Bobby Riggs in the historic "Battle of the Sexes" match, later dramatized in a Hollywood film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
King ended her speech with advice for her fellow graduates: "Have fun. Be fearless. And make history."
