Title IX Spotlight: Mollie Patton

As part of the Southeastern Conference's celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the conference will spotlight former student-athletes that have gone on to successful careers outside of athletics.

"Many hear Title IX and think athletics, but it impacted much more than that. Without Title IX, I most likely would not have received this level of education and for sure would not have had the chance to be a student-athlete. The education I received was barely considered for a woman and now it is an expectation," said former South Carolina soccer player Mollie Patton.

Patton finished her career as one of the best goalkeepers in the history of the SEC. She ranks as the league's all-time leader for consecutive shutouts with seven and single-season shutouts with 15. She left the Gamecock program as the all-time leader for each of those categories as well as for single season wins with 19 and career wins with 45.

As a senior she was a Lowe's Senior CLASS Award nominee, a First-Team ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American, an NSCAA Scholar All-American, and she was the female McWhorter Scholar-Athlete nominee for South Carolina.

When asked about the impact her time as a collegiate athlete had on her post-graduation life, Patton explained, "While the mission is different now as I navigate the professional world, how to succeed is the same. It takes teamwork, discipline and being a constant learner. Through my college career, the only way to succeed was to do the extra stuff when no one was watching. This has translated into my career, without self-motivation and the willingness to go the extra mile, I would not be where I am today. My time management skills have also been a huge asset, as nothing will compare to being a division one athlete and pharmacy school."

Currently residing in Mason, Ohio, Patton is a Senior Development Manager, Healthcare Modernization for Kroger. She is responsible for the overall project management, operational performance, reliability, and integrity of developed projects and applications.

Mollie began her career as a pharmacy intern at CVS in Columbia, SC while completing her doctorate in Pharmacy. She went on to become a pharmacist for Kroger in 2013 and moved to a supervisor within the company by 2015. Mollie than became a Program Development Manager with Kroger in 2019 and was promoted to her current role in 2020.