The NCAA News - News and Features

July 6, 1998

A WOMAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Charlotte West has seen it all in her 41 years of college athletics administration

BY KAY HAWES
STAFF WRITER

While it's easy to measure the contributions of a coach or the records of an outstanding athlete, it's much more difficult to measure the lasting imprint of someone who has been making an impact on intercollegiate athletics for 41 years.

Charlotte West, associate director of athletics at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, has been a coach, and she has been an outstanding athlete, but she will be remembered for her leadership, her sense of direction in difficult times and her unwavering persistence.

When West retires this July, the world of intercollegiate athletics will look very different from when she entered it in 1957. Much of the reason it will look different is because she was there.

Always a navigator

Even as a child, West was setting the course for others to follow. When she was a little girl, she would frequently accompany her father, who was terrible with directions. She remembers her mother telling her, "Now, Charlotte, you be sure to pay attention to where you're going so you can get yourself and your father home."

Born in Michigan in 1932, West was adopted by a couple who took her to New York. Her father was semi-retired, and the family--which also included a sister two years older than West -- traveled frequently from New York to Florida. Teachers thought it best for the children if they didn't change schools so much, so the family settled in St. Petersburg, Florida, while West was still in elementary school.

When World War II brought fear to Florida and citizens worried about German submarines off the coast, West's father -- like many men who were too old to fight in the war -- served the community as a submarine spotter. As nearby residents observed blackout conditions, he would go out and scan the waters for any signs of the enemy. Then he would return through checkpoints and report his progress. On the floorboard of the car was his little navigator -- Charlotte --hiding at the checkpoints to keep from blowing his cover.

In the nearly 60 years that have passed since West served as an undercover navigator, not a lot has changed. She has retained her sense of adventure and her sense of direction, but she's also likely to be found on the floorboard, letting others have their time to shine.

Looking for a place to play

While West played in neighborhood games as a child, she discovered interscholastic sports in the seventh grade. Thus began a love affair with athletics that continues to this day. It wasn't a time when girls and women were encouraged to pursue athletics, but West couldn't be dissuaded.

"I was fortunate in that my junior high and high school had interscholastic teams in St. Petersburg, Florida, and for me it was a wonderful experience," West said.

"I loved it. I played volleyball and basketball. And I did do other things, like I played softball and I did a little swimming on the swim team, but volleyball and basketball were my favorites."

West didn't just like athletics -- she was a talented athlete as well. Success in all types of sports, in practically everything she tried, made her even more interested.

West was good enough to play varsity in ninth grade, so she enjoyed four years of high-school sports. "Then the shocker," West said. "I got to Florida State and they had nothing for women as far as varsity sports."

That fact didn't keep West idle, however. She had played basketball and volleyball previously for a commercial team in St. Petersburg sponsored by R.H. Hall, of Maytag fame. When she went to college and found no sports there for women, she returned to playing for the commercial teams.

"You wouldn't call it a professional team," West said. "We just got our way paid, we didn't get any salary, but we played all around the state in some of the big cities."

West would take off from Florida State on the weekends and play for Hall's teams. Anything to keep playing.

"That was not really too practical, but from time to time I did join them," West said. "Like when they had a state tournament, I could pick up with them and help them out. Our teachers at Florida State just thought that was terrible."

It was an era when women's participation in sports was not encouraged. In fact, many in physical education thought that sports were harmful for women.

"I came along in an era in which it was, tsk, tsk," West said, pointing her finger. "And I also -- thank God -- was around in the era in which it came up again."

West received her bachelor of science degree in mathematics and physical education from Florida State in 1954. Her father had died while she was a senior in college, so she returned to her mother's home in St. Petersburg to teach and coach at Boca Ciega High School for two years.

Then West enrolled at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, to pursue a master's degree in physical education and dance.

"I had kind of the same experience there. Again there were no interscholastic sports," West said.

Once again, West looked for a place to play.

"We found out about a city league of women's basketball, and I thought, 'Oh, that would be great to play in the city league and play other cities.' "

West's neighbor was Joan Hult, now a historian and a well-known figure in the field of physical education who retired not long ago from the University of Maryland, College Park.

"She loved to play too, so we went down and played basketball," West recalled.

"And the day after we played, we got called into the director of physical education's office, and she said to Joan Hult, 'Now, you're a graduate assistant and I'm telling you, you cannot go down there and play.'

"And then she said to me, 'I can't tell you that,' -- because I was on an academic scholarship, I wasn't a GA -- 'but I would suggest you not go down.'

"And needless to say, I didn't, because she could control our destiny when we got out of there as far as where we were going to work. That just tells you the attitude of some of the old physical education people."

West says it was the moments like those in her life that influenced her and made her interested in an active role in women's athletics.

"I think it began when I got to Florida State," she said. "Here was somebody who loved it, who really wanted to play (and couldn't). As years passed, I thought about it, and I had really failed to have the opportunity to do something that I really loved."

While West has never forgotten how it felt to be left standing on the sidelines, it didn't quell her love for sports or her competitive nature.

"She has made sport a passion and it has driven her her entire life," said Christine H. Grant, director of intercollegiate athletics for women at the University of Iowa, who has known West since 1973.

"She's a keen competitor," Grant added. "Take her out on the golf course and you'll figure that out real quick."

The one year that became 41

West completed her master's degree at North Carolina-Greensboro in 1957 and began looking for work. The woman who had discouraged her from playing basketball now encouraged her to broaden her horizons and look outside the South for employment.

"That same lady said, 'Charlotte, you've been in the South, I think it's good if you go somewhere else geographically,'" West recalled.

"I came here (to Carbondale) and I have been here ever since. It's funny because she said, 'Stay a year, and if you don't like it, you can come back.' But there were wonderful opportunities here."

West came to Southern Illinois as an instructor of physical education. Her first year she also coached softball and began the volleyball program. By her second year, she also had become the women's basketball coach -- what she considered her true vocation.

During that time, women competed in "Extramurals" and Play Days or Sport Days, where many teams would converge on a single university site and play each other. Participants were expected to fill many roles, whether they were coaches or players.

"The players that you took would officiate also, along with some of us (coaches). And that was keeping costs down, plus there just weren't other officials of women's games," West said.

"We'd get a schedule of when we could play and then they'd say, any time your team was not playing, you were responsible to cover the scoring and timing of this event or you'd need to provide an official."

West became the director of women's intercollegiate athletics in 1959, a position she held until the university merged the men's and women's athletics departments in 1986.

She also coached men's and women's badminton (1961-68) and women's golf (1960-74), bringing home the national championship in golf in 1969. She coached basketball until 1975, compiling a 158-60 record and winning an National Invitation Championship consolation title in 1970.

As women's sports expanded and West took on more administrative duties, she had to relinquish her coaching duties. She relinquished basketball last.

"She never really quit coaching it. I was just the pseudo head coach," joked Cindy Scott, who coached women's basketball at Southern Illinois for 21 years. Now the compliance director at Bentley College, Scott organized a "roast" of West last month in St. Louis.

"She was wonderful to work for. You want to please her because you know the standard she sets for herself," Scott added.

West always set ambitious academic goals for herself as well. She became an assistant professor of physical education in 1965, an associate professor in 1970 and a full professor in 1973.

After she completed her doctorate of philosophy in physical education, with a minor in educational measurement, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she was tempted to leave Carbondale for a position at Wisconsin that was right up her academic alley.

West described the moment as a turning point in her career.

"My academic area was measurement and evaluation, and I taught tests and measurements for many years. It was a real blending of a love I have of sports and the love I have of figures, which more recently has manifested itself by doing so much work on budgeting.

"The woman who was in charge of the program there left the year after I got my Ph.D. They enticed me to come every way they could. I've had no professional decision in my life that was harder than that one. But that love of athletics loomed heavy in my decision-making."

West decided to remain at Carbondale, where she ultimately developed the graduate program in sport management, serving as director of that program until June 1991. She continued to advise graduate students up until her retirement, serving on numerous dissertation and thesis committees.

A scholarship has been set up in West's name at Southern Illinois (see accompanying story) to honor her academic and athletics accomplishments.

"Charlotte is a scholar," said Jean Paratore, associate vice-chancellor of student affairs and dean of students at Southern Illinois. "She's a full professor in the university and she believes very strongly in academic integrity and academic performance."

West hired Paratore 24 years ago as a half-time coordinator of women's intramurals and a half-time instructor of physical education.

Paratore worked for West for only about a year before she became a full-time employee in intramurals, which had moved to the student affairs department. Paratore said West made an indelible impression--not just on Paratore but on many whose lives she touched.

"She was the Susan B. Anthony for the rest of us," Paratore said. "She was out front and was the mentor for the women who came after her. And she was willing to be out front.

"As different issues came up over the years, she was not shy in voicing her opinion, but she never did it rudely. She always did it in an intelligent, thoughtful way that made everyone think. She always demanded respect."

Paratore tells of an awards dinner at Southern Illinois where longtime faculty members are singled out and recognized. "I told the person I was with, 'I don't care what happens, when they announce Charlotte's name, I'm going to stand.' She was the last person they announced, and when they did announce her, the entire audience stood up.

"That just illustrates the respect most people on this campus have for her. It's that feeling of respect of her and her loyalty and her dedication to athletics and to women and to higher education in general."

Playing the hand you have

West was instrumental in the growth and survival of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which was an independent group established specifically to govern women's athletics at the collegiate level. The AIAW developed rules and procedures for holding competitions, tournaments and national championships.

West was elected the AIAW Commissioner of National Championships, a position she held from 1974-76. Then she was elected president of the AIAW in 1978-79.

Karol Kahrs, associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator at the University of Illinois, Champaign, was the person who convinced West to run for president from the floor of the convention.

"I thought that her vision and her past experiences and what she brings to the table -- her diplomacy, her foresight, her integrity -- would be a valuable asset for the AIAW," Kahrs said.

"Charlotte was an integral part in the building of AIAW," said Iowa's Grant. "Her opinions are valued by people across the country, and she had a lot to do with how the association was structured."

The AIAW held its position as the governing body of women's athletics until 1980, when the NCAA membership voted to begin offering national championships for women. The NCAA also initiated a four-year plan that permitted member institutions to operate their women's programs under either AIAW rules or NCAA rules until 1985, when institutions would have to choose. The end of AIAW came in 1982, when the association lost a court battle to prevent NCAA sponsorship of women's championships.

At the time, many women in athletics administration valued the autonomy of the AIAW and fought to preserve its existence.

"Charlotte strongly opposed the NCAA starting championships for women, as did most of us," Grant said. "But Charlotte's philosophy is, 'You play the hand you have, and you play it the best you can.' "

Part of playing the hand she had in this case meant becoming actively involved in the NCAA, where she has served in a variety of different capacities.

She served for five years on the NCAA Council, she chaired the Division I Financial Aid Committee, and she will continue to serve on the Division I Committee on Athletics Certification for a time, assisting with a backlog of certification cases. She has also served on the Gender-Equity Task Force, as the chair of the NCAA Committee on Two-Year-College Relations, and as a consultant to the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics. Until her last meeting later this month, West also represents the Missouri Valley Conference on the NCAA Division I Management Council.

"She's probably worked harder for the NCAA than anyone else who's ever worked with them, except maybe those on the payroll and I'm not even certain about that," Kahrs said.

"Charlotte has been a tremendous asset to the NCAA over the years," said Janet M. Justus, NCAA director of education outreach. "You can turn to her for knowledge on a variety of issues, and she can help you understand complex issues in a simple way. I admire that.

"Also, I think one of the reasons she is such a good leader for the Association is her vast experience and the respect she has from the membership."

One of the unique attributes many of West's colleagues mention time and time again is her sense of fairness and her professionalism.

One person who has experienced those traits first hand is Jim Livengood, director of athletics at the University of Arizona.

"She really has made a difference in intercollegiate athletics," Livengood said. "She cares so much about student-athletes, and she is one of the fairest people I've ever been around. She's fair and consistent."

Livengood has a unique perspective from which to view

West. When Southern Illinois merged its men's and women's athletics programs in 1986, West was not chosen to be the director. West also favored retaining separate departments. Again, it was a loss of autonomy for women's sports. But West handled the entire affair with grace.

"She had every reason to be unhappy and to not want me to succeed," Livengood said. "And I found absolutely the reverse to be true. She was so helpful, and I consider her a mentor. I worked with her for two of the best years of my professional life.

"When I was a young AD, I learned so much from her about scholarships and equivalencies. She's a great teacher, and she's dynamite with finances."

Livengood also will remember her diligence and her perfectionist nature. "Whether it's a committee assignment or an academic report, she not only crosses every 'T,' but she measures each side of the bar to make sure it's even."

West was the associate director of intercollegiate athletics at Southern Illinois from 1986 to 1987, and she served as the acting director of intercollegiate athletics after Livengood left, from 1987 to 1988.

When former professional football player Jim Hart was hired as the athletics director in 1988, West reverted to the associate director. Again, she played the hand she was dealt.

"I came in under controversial circumstances," recalled Hart, who has been the Southern Illinois athletics director now for 10 years.

"There were factions for Charlotte and factions for me. And I was being scrutinized. Charlotte handled that really well. She never let that get in the way of our professional relationship, and I thank her for that," he said.

"I could always turn to her and ask her a question or ask for her help. What she has meant to the department and to me is just immeasurable.

"Her discipline is statistics, and she has taken on those chores for us. I feel badly that I've heaped those things upon her, but she truly has a gift for it."

A lasting legacy

Over the past 40 years, West has made progress in athletics much like a river makes progress slicing a canyon out of granite -- persistently and diligently, changing channels when necessary, but never ceasing to flow.

"Charlotte West has been a legend, and I can't think of anyone else I would give that title to," Grant said. "I've watched her for 25 years and I've seen how she quietly influences people and guides them. She has had a huge impact on how intercollegiate athletics takes place in this country, for both men and women.

"You can see how many times she's been called upon to contribute and you start to realize what an impact she's had. There are few people who really understand the impact Charlotte has had or how much time she's devoted to it."

Even those who realize West's impact on athletics have difficulties articulating it -- partly because West has touched them personally as well.

"It's tough to put into words all that she's meant to me and to athletics in general," Bentley's Scott said. "She has fought so many battles for women's athletics across the country for so many years.

"She's a great arbitrator and she somehow always remains calm in times of crisis. She's taught me a lot in that regard, and I know she's taught a lot of people that.

"I think she was leading the charge way back, 20 years ago. She was fighting and leading the way for all the benefits that women and women's athletics are reaping now."

Kahrs put it most simply: "I don't think you'll see many like her again."

Since West won't blow her own horn, her colleagues decided to do it for her. Brechtelsbauer, along with Jean Paratore, Cindy Scott, Diane Daugherty and others, has organized a variety of activities to honor West, with the proceeds going to West's scholarship fund.

Several hundred people were expected to attend the weekend worth of activities held June 27-28, which included a golf tournament, an athletics department reunion with alumni softball and field hockey games and a "Buffalo Tro," which is a barbecue.

"We wanted to give her a send-off that was a fitting tribute for all she has done for us," Brechtelsbauer said.

"As much as she's meant, you wonder if it's enough," Daugherty said. "It's like the old saying, you never appreciate what you have until it's gone."

Many of West's personal attributes have been poked at by those who came to show their appreciation recently in the first of these activities -- a ruthlessly hilarious banquet "roast" in June.

Any time you have someone with West's great sense of humor and distinctive, long-lasting hairdo -- affectionately known by all as "the bun," there's going to be some entertainment.

"That bun belies the kid that's in Charlotte West," Grant said. "Charlotte is, on the surface, a very quiet person. In reality, she's one of the most fun-loving people I've met."

And it's a good thing, because attendees at the recent weekend of festivities held at Carbondale in West's honor were treated to a display of the "Evolution of the Bun," which traced West's hairstyle over her 41-year career.

Patty Viverito, commissioner of the Gateway Football Conference and senior associate commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference who has known West since 1982, says the bun is the one thing about West that doesn't fit. "For a woman who is so willing to look at new ideas and think outside the box, I think her hairdo defies that," Viverito said with a chuckle.

West is hard to put in a box of any type. She tap dances -- in fact she once gave a tap dancing lesson to a donor in exchange for funds for the athletics program -- and she claims that she and Hart are the only SWA and AD pair who both play the accordion.

She also is obsessively tidy, she claims. Whatever the reason, all things are organized according to the Charlotte plan -- from paper clips to French fries to hair pins.

***

After the retirement ceremonies, West will return to her office, take home some certification committee work, and begin the process of really leaving -- something that few who know her still want to contemplate.

She'll spend some time playing golf, and she plans to travel and eventually purchase a second home on a golf course.

West has a beloved dog, Giuseppe, who is a breed of Hungarian hunting dog known as Vizsla, and she never married, so she doesn't have to worry about taking care of an aging husband in her retirement. "My sister married five times, and we joke that between the two of us we met the national average," West said with a laugh.

While her adoptive parents are deceased, she has developed a relationship with her biological mother, and she plans to see more of her as well.

"I'm just going to catch my breath before I go again," West said.

West has already been getting calls inquiring whether she will available for consulting. "I'm not going to set up my own consulting business," she said. "But if called upon, I would enjoy serving as a consultant -- if invited."

It seems likely that such an invitation is in her future.

Scholarship fund to honor each year of West's service

A scholarship at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale has been established in Charlotte West's name. The recipient of the annual scholarship will be a female athlete who has an interest in athletics administration and who is a high achiever academically.

"A scholarship seemed the most logical way for us to honor her and her memory," said Jean Paratore, associate vice-chancellor of student affairs and dean of students at Southern Illinois. "She believes very strongly in academic integrity as well as academic performance and athletics performance. She's not one-dimensional at all."

The goal is to raise $41,000 -- $1,000 for every year West gave the university. And while the fund is nearing its goal, much more is actually needed in order to fully fund an annual scholarship from the fund's interest.

"We wanted to have something that would be a legacy here, and we wanted to do it right," said Southern Illinois softball coach Kay Brechtelsbauer. "It's payback time for some of us to say thanks for all she's done."

Donations to the fund can be sent to: Office of Athletics Development, 127E Lingle Hall, Mailcode 6620, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, 62901-6620.

Charlotte West's honors and awards

Listed below are a few of the honors Charlotte West has earned during her 41-year career as an athletics administrator at Southern Illinois: