3 Nashua-Plainfield students awarded with Lowell Milken Center Discovery Award Prize

NASHUA, Iowa (KCRG) - Three Nashua-Plainfield Juniors received 1st place out of 14 Lowell Milken Center Discovery Award finalists Tuesday for a documentary they made about the late Dr. Christine Grant.

Dr. Grant was the University of Iowa’s first female athletic director and had a hand in pushing for Title IX.

Paige Franzen, Kadence Huck, and Cal Levi spent the last year going through boxes of memorabilia at the University of Iowa, collecting data and conducting interviews for their documentary “Why Not Us.”

“We went through a whole bunch of boxes,” said Huck.

Dr. Grant’s work was something Huck and Francen both recognized as important. Both are multi-sport athletes who credit “Title IX” and Dr. Grant for giving them opportunities others never had.

“It’s great that those doors are open for us now,” said Huck. “We can now have a future in athletics which we weren’t able to have before her.”

The documentary they created tells a story these three young filmmakers said needed to be told.

“I would say it wasn’t rewarding because Dr. Grant really did everything for women’s sports, but bringing light to it was what makes me the happiest,” said Franzen.

The recognition they got shined a light on an Iowa woman whose efforts now affect millions of girls and women.

“I think it was really great to bring more attention to just a small part of women’s sports,” said Franzen.

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