Billie Jean King to graduate from college at 82 years old, six decades after leaving for tennis
King reportedly majored in history, at one point writing an essay about the Title IX law she helped get passed.
It took six-and-a-half decades, but Billie Jean King is about to be a college graduate. In her defense, she’s been pretty busy. The 12-time Grand Slam singles champion and women’s sports pioneer is set to get her college degree from Cal State LA on Monday at the age of 82, according to USA Today’s Cydney Henderson .
She had originally enrolled in the school from 1961-64 before leaving to focus on her tennis career. King will reportedly be the first member of her immediate family to graduate from college and described the feat as “up there” on her list of most meaningful accomplishments, which include a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her one regret is her family won’t be there to see her commencement speech: "That's my one regret.
They're not alive, but, boy, would they be happy," King said. "My parents, oh my God, would be over the moon because they're big on education. They told (my brother) Randy we have to get our education.
" Randy Moffitt, a former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, died last year at the age of 76 . King’s degree is reportedly in history and she had apparently been mulling the idea of returning to college for a while, but thought she needed two more years to earn her degree. However, that outlook changed when Marjori Gantman, managing director of her BJK Enterprises firm, reviewed her transcripts: "I was just talking out loud and (Gantman) goes, 'Well, let me check.