Photo credit: Cal State LA
Legends live on in influence even when their playing days are done.
Iconic champion Billie Jean King realized a graduation day dream and inspired a new generation of students.
Monday, May 18, when she received her Bachelor of Arts in History during the 5 p.m. Commencement ceremony for the College of Natural and Social Sciences. It took just 65 years.
The beloved Hall of Famer, equality champion, and arguably Cal State LA’s most famous alumna celebrated her accomplishment by volleying signed tennis balls to her fellow graduates seated in the lower bowl of the Shrine Auditorium.
“More than 60 years have passed before I returned to the classroom to complete my degree in history,” King said, addressing her fellow graduates. “Talk about delayed gratification, and I came back with a purpose.
“I had unfinished business, and it is important to me to finish what I started. I like completing things. It’s like shaking hands at the net after a match.”
King’s message to seniors considering returning to college to complete their degrees is simple.
“It’s never too late,” King said.
Photo credit: Cal State LA
The daughter of a fire fighter, King grew up playing baseball and basketball in the yard alongside her brother, Randy, who would go on to play for the San Francisco Giants as a relief pitcher.
King said receiving her degree was an impactful life experience.
“It means a lot more than I thought,” she said. “I just don’t think I understood the impact, the positive impact. Sometimes you think I’ll try something and it’ll be nice. This isn’t nice, this is magnificent.
“My hope is that [I inspire even] one person to go back.”
Photo credit: Cal State LA
Recalling life as a young student trying to breakthrough on the international tennis circuit, King recalled enrolling in classes in the same year she won one of her 20 Wimbledon titles.
“Things were different then,” she said to the audience. “Winning a Wimbledon doubles title today is worth close to half a million dollars. In 1961, I think we won a $45 gift voucher to a local store.”
“Being a student-athlete didn’t mean I had a scholarship. Financial support wasn’t available to women in 1961, even though my friends Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith were both scholarship students on the men’s teams at UCLA and USC.”
Photo credit: Cal State LA
The iconic leader for human rights praised graduates for their journeys to diploma day.
“Each person, you don’t know their journey, what they went through, and also what their families went through,” King said. “Being back at where I started means a lot to me.”
King won a total of 39 major titles in both singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, along with winning the famous “Battles of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs in 1973.
King, who founded the WTA Tour, is also the recipient of the United States’ two highest civilian honors.
In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2024 she became the first individual female athlete to receive the Congressional Gold Medal.
It is never, ever, too late to finish what you have started. #Classof2026 pic.twitter.com/8eHTcevc9W
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) May 18, 2026
During Cal State LA’s 50th anniversary celebration in 1997, the university and California State University bestowed on King an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in recognition of her athletic achievements and the distinction those accomplishments brought to her alma mater.
In 2025, she became the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame under the category of sports entertainment.
For 20 years, she hosted the Billie Jean King & Friends event at Cal State LA, raising more than $4.5 million for athletic scholarships.