HCAC CELEBRATES THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF TITLE IX
Rebecca Hull | Anderson University
Rebecca Hull was a long-time coach for the Ravens and an ambassador for women's athletics. She coached the women's volleyball team from 1979 to 1991, winning 247 matches – the second most in program history. She was also the women's basketball coach from 1979 to 1984. From 1985 to 2005, she was the associate athletic director at AU.
A trailblazer for women's sports, Hull helped form the Hoosier Conference for Women's Athletics, operating for seven years before combining with the men's conference. She helped write the constitution, by-laws and sports guidelines for each conference, including the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference – the current home for all AU sports.
What does Title IX mean to you?
"Title IX was landmark legislation that opened the doors for women to play sports alongside men. Up to that point many men believed that if women were also allowed to compete, that it would take money away from their programs. Essentially the pie wouldn't be big enough to provide adequate resources to either programs. Title IX was signed in 1972, rules and regulations didn't come out until 1975, and interpretations didn't come out until 1979. It was tremendous for women's sports. It allowed the opportunity for women to be apart of a college or conference program that legitimately had women and their needs in mind."
Favorite sports memory?
"In 1981 Anderson was playing against St. Mary's College for the AIAW Volleyball Championship. We were behind 14-13 in the second game. We rallied to win the next few points, ultimately winning 16-14. The next game, St. Mary's essentially folded, and we won 15-8. It was so memorable because they were one point away from winning, we were almost dead in the water, and were able to combat that to pull the come from behind victory."
Ayanna Tweedy | Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | Director of Athletics
Visionary intercollegiate athletics leader Ayanna Tweedy became the first full-time athletic director at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 2022-23. Tweedy is an HBCU graduate of Bowie State University and competed for three years as a shot put and discus thrower. She was the Division II NCAA SAAC President, currently serves as a DISC facilitator, and has helped implement policies that improved equity in pay across genders and develop empowerment programs for women coaches.
What Title IX means to you?
"The first two words that come to my mind are ''access” and “a voice ". I am very humble and very aware that I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors. There are a number of women that have paved the way for me, and I would not be in this seat if it wasn't for the black and brown women that stood in the gap, used their voice and created access for me. Not only them, but also the people that did not look like me. I appreciate the men, who i consider as mentors, who stood up for me and gave me a chance to work in this business. Title IX means that even when the days are long and things aren't going my way, I am still worth it and I am enough."
What woman motivated you to get to where you are today?
"My grandmother, mother and aunt have worked in higher education for over 30 years combined. I admire how all three have given their lives to their community, their students, and I wanted to do the same through athletics. I have watched them lead and serve young people, and i knew that is what I wanted to do."
Pat Deacon | Transylvania University
Pat Deacon was a coach, administrator, and teacher at Transylvania for 29 years prior to her retirement in 1999. Deacon served as associate athletic director and coached basketball, tennis, field hockey and softball during her Pioneer career.
Deacon was selected to the Pioneer Hall of Fame in 2000. In 2014 Transylvania named their renovated stadium after Pat Deacon. Pat Deacon Stadium serves as the home field for seven different Transylvania athletic programs.
What does Title IX mean to you?
"It means that more women can participate and be on par with men not only in athletics, but also in life. When I started at Transylvania there were three sports for women and five sports for men. I had no assistants until years after I started. Now Transylvania University has more women's sports than men’s sports. Nine on the men’s side, twelve on the women’s side. The impact of Title IX has been huge within the Transylvania community. When I first started women's basketball, we didn’t have uniforms, we wore T-shirts and shorts with numbers on the back. Now they have uniforms and they’re the NATIONAL CHAMPIONS. The women’s basketball team used to travel by vans, now we go in buses. Title IX also extended travel for the program allowing us to go more places."
What is you favorite sports memory?
"When young women would come to Transylvania to play basketball I’d ask them to come out and play field hockey. They almost always replied saying they knew nothing about field hockey. I would tell them to come on out to practice, we’ll go over rules and regulations because I’d really like to keep this program going. So hesitantly they did, and they learned the game quickly because they were athletic, and once they learned it they loved it. After convincing many of the women’ basketball athletes to also play field hockey, as a field hockey program we went on to win eight state championships. I believe this is the biggest contribution I made to women's sports at Transylvania University.
"My number two favorite sports memory would probably be Transylvania naming their new stadium after me. At the time when the athletic director told me they wanted to name the stadium after me I said 'oh there are so many other men and women that’ve done so much for Transylvania, you should name if for them'. They told me 'no, we want you'. I just couldn’t believe it. I was honored when they named the stadium after me, and I felt very humbled that the administration believed that I was worthy of such."
Jenny Johnson-Kappes | Franklin College
Jenny Johnson-Kappes coached softball, field hockey, and basketball at Franklin College. Johnson-Kappes was also a professor of physical education and served as the women's athletic director during her time at Franklin.
Johnson-Kappes has been inducted into Franklin's athletics Hall of Fame from her time as a player. In 1981, Johnson became the first woman inducted into the United States Slow-Pitch Softball Association Hall of Fame. She led her teams to world championships in 1986, 1987, and 1988.
What has Title IX meant to you?
“It was a start for women to get a little recognition and to be able to play at the college and high school level and to get some good coaching. It took a long time for that to develop because there was a big fight against it. When I was the head basketball and softball coach at Minnesota, there was a movement to get a full-time women’s athletic director and there were two on the men’s administration side that threatened to quit if the person that I felt was the best candidate was hired. So they hired the worst of the three candidates and I left after one year and came back to Franklin. There was a fight to be able to play women’s games in the same arena as the men but we finally got to get on the floor and use the locker rooms and practice there and that was a big step. I got to see colleges start to put money into their women’s programs. For the longest time, women’s teams ran on minimal budgets and that made it a tough battle. The funding to get programs up to an equal status took a long time to achieve and in some cases it hasn’t gotten there yet. It’s been a long haul and it's been great to see the investment into women’s sports grow at the college level."
Where do you feel like you've made your biggest contributions during your time in collegiate athletics?
“I always tried to make the young women that I coached feel special. If there wasn’t money in the budget for something, I took it out of my pocket because they deserved to have the best experience they could get, given the time and effort that they put into playing. Trying to get as much for them as possible and make them feel like they were important was important to me. We had so many great female athletes come through Franklin, and I loved coaching and working with them.”
Megan Warren | Defiance College | Assistant Athletic Director | Senior Woman Administrator
Warren was a four-year softball player for the Yellow Jackets and was named First Team All-HCAC and Third-Team NFCA All-Central Region her senior season. She also earned Second Team All-HCAC honors once and Academic All-HCAC honors twice during her career. Warren played 145 games in a Yellow Jacket uniform. Her 151 career hits place her fifth all-time at Defiance, while her 99 RBI place her third on the career leaderboard. Warren's 38 career doubles lands her second on the Defiance charts.
What does Title IX means to you?
"My life and career has been able to be what it is because of Title IX. There were many women athletes before me who didn't have the opportunity to compete at high school, college, or the national stage the way that we do now. I have so much gratitude that I get to work in an athletic department. I try to remember to always be grateful for the opportunities that I have been given and for the people who paved the way for me. In terms of the future we're not done yet, and there's a lot more growth and a lot more that we can do for women's athletics and that we can do in general for equitable athletics to make the experience great for for everybody."
What is your favorite sports memory?
My favorite memory that I played in is when we played Anderson in the conference tournament my senior year. They were the host, No. 1 seed and we beat them to eliminate them from the tournament. That was a great experience because my first three years we missed out on the tournament. Finally making the tournament and being able to knock out the No. 1 seed while having fun and success, that was that was a great way to end my playing career."
Bonita Washington-Lacey | Earlham College | Vice President of Student Life/ Dean of Students
Dean of Students Bonita Washington-Lacey is an alumna of Earlham College, former student-athlete, and longtime Earlham employee. Her deep respect for and commitment to Earlham students guides every aspect of her work.
What does Title IX means to you?
"A range of different things, but in focusing on what it means for women in athletics, It means that we have the opportunity to witness what we saw in the Division I women's national basketball championship, between LSU and Iowa, with that intensity and competitiveness. It also means that women athletes have the same access to resources and opportunities that certainly prior to Title IX they didn't have. Particularly around issues of equity, making sure that women athletes have the same access to resources such as medical care and sports medicine. When I played basketball at Earlham there was no notion of sports medicine in the way there was for men. Care, commitment, and opportunity all matter and Title IX has brought that to the forefront for women in athletics. We're no longer treated as a second class citizen in the areas where we work just as hard and competitively representing colleges and universities as men do."
When did you know you were called to make a difference in athletics?
"As a student it was clear to me what it meant to be a part of a team and if you're part of a team, it means you’re committed to the team and you do the work for the team and so I gravitated to that whole environment. I’ve played sports since I was five years old, and introduced my children to the same kind of discipline that it requires to be an athlete."
Lynn Hall | Hanover College | Vice President of Athletics
Hall served as Hanover’s head volleyball coach for 12 seasons, earning conference coach-of-the-year honors three times. She also led her teams to three conference championships. Hall became director of women’s athletics in 1996 and was named the first director of athletics for both the men’s and women’s athletic programs in 1998.
What does Title IX means to you?
"It means that my granddaughter Is not going to have to face the same challenges I faced as an athlete early on in my career, and for that I'm thankful. I’m seeing changes in the equity of women's sports. I believe institutions are taking Title IX way more seriously than they did 30 years ago. It’s great seeing women’s athletics on the same pedestal as men’s athletics. My aunt was the senior women’s athletic director at The College of Wooster and was so proud to see me become the head athletics director for both men’s and women's sports at Hanover College. She didn't get the opportunity to direct both men’s and women's programs. It used to be common practice that there was an athletic director over the men's programs and an athletic director over the women's programs. Hanover followed this policy until 1998. I’m the first head athletic director at Hanover overseeing both mens and women’s programs."
For the younger women that look up to you and want to be in a similar position, what piece of advice do you have for them?
"You can do it all. Sometimes you’ll have to pace yourself, you will have to make some sacrifices, and you will have to prioritize. For me I'm married and I raised three sons while I was working full time. I coached for seventeen years, five at the high school level twelve at the collegiate level. There are some definite sacrifices you have to make and you have to try to balance your work life and home life and it's not always easy. But set your priorities and live by those priorities, you can do it."
Melanee Wagener | Mount St. Joseph University | Director of Athletics
Melanee is in her third year at the Director of Athletics at Mount St. Joseph University and her 16th year overall, having served as the women’s basketball coach for four years and the Associate Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator for 10 years.
Under Wagener, several sports have seen their highest level of successes in program history. Since Wagener has taken the leadership role, Mount St. Joseph has earned four HCAC Championships: one in women’s soccer, one in football and two in softball. All other sports are seeing an upward trend in their level of competition and placing in the HCAC standings.
What does Title IX means to you?
"When I first got into college I honestly didn't know much about Title IX. I was raised in a home with three girls. We took out the trash, mowed the lawn, and other household chores. So to not have the ability to go to school on athletic scholarship never crossed my mind. Once I got into school and learned more about Title IX, I realized how fortunate I was to even make it on the cusp of having the opportunity to play collegiate athletics. I'm also thankful because working as an athletics administrator in a male dominated industry, I don't believe I would've had this opportunity without Title IX. So Title IX means a great deal to me."
What is your favorite sports memory?
"It has been so fun over the last few years to watch our athletic programs grow. With football winning the conference this year, and our softball program making it to the super regionals, which is the best they've done in history. Also watching Cornell Beechum become a national champion in wrestling, those have been phenomenal memories and that'll I truly cherish from my time as an administrator here at Mount St. Joseph."
Kim Fischer | Bluffton University
With more victories than any coach in Bluffton history, Kim Fischer took her place in the Athletics Hall of Fame just one year after her departure from campus.
Fischer served as professor of health, physical education, and recreation at Bluffton and assumed the title of associate director of athletics in 1985. She also spent 11 seasons as head women’s basketball coach, notching 114 victories and one WBCC championship, and six seasons as head softball coach, collecting 78 victories and two AMC championships.
From 1979-97, she guided the Bluffton volleyball program to a 521-229 record, six Western Buckeye Collegiate Conference championships, and one Association of Mideast Colleges championship. She was named League Coach of the Year six times.
