The NCAA News - News and Features

October 27, 1997

Duke crew club takes big step toward gaining varsity status

The Duke University women's crew team -- through persistence and organization -- may have won approval for elevation to varsity status.

For five years, the crew team has submitted proposals for moving the team from club to varsity status, but the latest effort appears to have succeeded with approval by the Duke Athletics Council.

The last step is approval by the university's Board of Trustees in December.

To get the athletics council's approval, the team followed a three-step process, the first of which was a written proposal. In April, Sara Zdeb, former president of the women's crew team, and Katherine Nesbitt, a second-year law student who coached freshman rowers, wrote the proposal outlining the opportunities that elevation of the team could provide.

The team presented a 21-page proposal highlighting the benefits of promoting the university's thriving club program to varsity status.

Following submission of the proposal to the athletics council, team representatives met with that group to ensure the team fulfilled each of the six criteria for collegiate varsity sports as outlined in the Duke athletics policy manual.

Among the criteria are that the sport elicit general support from the student body and alumni, provide an opportunity for collateral institutional benefits for the university, operate on funding that falls within the financial capabilities set by the Board of Trustees, and establish a schedule that is both convenient and competitive.

Duke President Nan Keohane lent her support to the effort through a two-page letter to the council (she was unable to attend in person).

The women's crew team now must prepare a written proposal for the Board of Trustees to review in December.

The athletics council recommended elevation of the crew team to varsity status as part of its efforts to bring the school into compliance with gender-equity requirements of Title IX.

The athletics council's plan calls for women's crew to be added as a varsity sport next year and a second women's sport -- likely softball -- by 2000.

The two sports would provide 60 additional participation opportunities for female athletes and 21 athletics scholarships for women phased in over the next 10 years.

The plan does not require any cuts in men's scholarships.

"The athletics department has proposed both accelerating and expanding our plan for achieving gender equity. Given Duke's current student body makeup (48 percent women), we would meet all of the Office for Civil Rights requirements for equity," Kathleen Smith, chair of the Duke athletics council, told the Durham (North Carolina) Herald-Sun.

Duke sponsors 25 varsity sports -- 13 for men and 12 for women.

Smith said details of the plan remain to be resolved before it is presented to the university board of trustees in December.

"We're hoping, if we get board approval, that (athletics director) Tom Butters can hire a coach (for women's crew) this year and the team can begin competition next year," she said.

Smith said the Atlantic Coast Conference's receipt of a grant from the United States Olympic Committee to support women's crew also was a factor in Duke's recommendation to elevate crew.

The athletics council has not designated women's softball as the women's sport to be added before 2000, but softball is the only ACC sport in which Duke does not participate.

Softball is the only other women's club team that approached the athletics council about seeking varsity status, Smith noted. Butters, who is retiring in the spring, didn't feel comfortable making the decision about the additional sport for his successor, she said.

The athletics council said it would begin next year seriously considering which second women's sport will be be added.

* * *

A presentation by Amy Cohen and Lynette Labinger, plaintiff and attorney in the Cohen vs. Brown landmark Title IX case, was one of several featured programs at the Fall Forum of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA).

The forum was October 10-15 in Denver.

Also making presentations were Judith Albino, former president of the University of Colorado and currently president of the California School of Professional Psychology, speaking from the perspective of a college president, and Ellie Gilfoyle, director of the Institute of Women and Leadership at Colorado State University, discussing leadership issues.

A panel on professional women's sports included as panelists Lark Birdsong, general manager of the Colorado Xplosion, and Debbie Black, a player for the Xplosion; Cindy McGinley, vice-president of finance for Women's Professional Fastpitch; Fred Schreyer, a player representative; and Phil Von Hake, general manager of the Colorado Thunder.

Small-group discussions covered topics such as developing a Life Skills Program, the female athlete triad, facility planning and renovation, financial planning, opportunities for women in higher education, involvement opportunities in the restructured NCAA, and career transitions.

The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics also met in conjunction with the forum.

In other activities, NACWAA:

* Named Marcia Saneholtz, senior associate athletics director at Washington State University, the National Administrator of the Year. The award is presented to one of seven district winners who are selected based on outstanding achievement in and contributions to women's athletics. Saneholtz served on the NACWAA Board of Directors and was president in 1991-92. She is chair of the NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Committee.

* Swore in new president Sharon Taylor, athletics director at Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania.

* Elected Karol Kahrs of the University of Illinois, Champaign, as president-elect, and Rita Castagna, Assumption College, and Denise O'Grady, University of Northern Colorado, as members of the board of directors.

* Selected as the Nominating Committee Linda Hackett, Bryant College; Janet Justus, NCAA; Bernadette McGlade, Atlantic Coast Conference; Jen Shillingford, Bryn Mawr College; and Marsha Smeltzer, Colorado State University.