In 1978, the members of the volleyball team traveled in 15-passenger vans, brought their own toaster ovens and coffee pots on road trips, and the head coach taped ankles while the team filtered through her hotel room eating breakfast. Fast forward to the present day, and the volleyball team travels by chartered bus and sleeps two to a room on road trips.

Title IX, passed in June of 1972, stated that “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity.” This simple amendment would change the landscape of women’s sports across the nation at every level, and Cornell University was no exception.

Three hundred women accounted for 13 teams in the women’s athletic program at Cornell in 1972, a time when basketball, volleyball, or track was considered an extension of physical education classes. Slowly but surely, the women’s teams became a more integral part of the athletic department, as there are now 17 women’s squads. From an entirely separate program run out of Helen Newman Hall, the women became fully integrated into Cornell intercollegiate athletics in every way.

Former volleyball head coach and current director of recreational services Andrea Dutcher began working for Cornell in 1974, and chose to coach volleyball over gymnastics because she preferred sweatpants to a leotard. In her 14-year tenure, she was part of many of the changes that brought women’s athletics to their present success.

“When I first coached I had no assistant coaches, I was the trainer, I wrote all of my sports communications things for [The Sun],” Dutcher said. “We raised all our own money, we bought our own uniforms, we stayed four in a room ... That all suddenly started changing in the late ’70s, early ’80s.”

Change came in many forms — better facilities, recruiting budgets, institutional support, new uniforms, better travel arrangements, and support from athletic communications. Perhaps the most telling transformation was that head coaches began to be hired primarily for their coaching expertise, rather than assigning coaching responsibilities to physical education instructors. Whereas Dutcher began her coaching career in charge of two sports, coaches today are hired expressly to lead the development of a specific program.

A key factor to the change in the coaching ranks was a lawsuit brought against the University in the early ’80s, with former gymnastics head coach Gretchen Dowsing leading the way.

“There were several of us who were coaches who were involved in a lawsuit against the University on salaries and teaching responsibility and coaching responsibilities,” Dutcher said. “And that was a wake-up call for the University. My salary almost doubled in a one-year period because of the lawsuit.”
Beyond dollars and cents, the general attitude and atmosphere surrounding women’s sports has progressed and laid a foundation upon which championship teams can be built.

“What I’ve witnessed is … women’s athletics going from, or advancing from, a level where fun and participation and team camaraderie was the driver until today where all those things are still drivers, but they are now combined with the same drive for excellence and the same pursuit for excellence as exists throughout men’s intercollegiate athletics,” said athletic director Andy Noel.

For women’s lacrosse head coach Jenny Graap ’86, the evolution of women’s sports at Cornell is a personal journey. Graap was a member of both the field hockey and women’s lacrosse teams in her undergraduate career, earning All-America honors in lacrosse. Graap recalls carrying her stick and gym bag to class because the team didn’t have locker rooms, using the same shoes for both sports, and playing early-morning games in front of empty stands. The program has grown in leaps and bounds since Graap was hired in 1997, including a trip to the Final Four in 2002.

“All of that started when I was hired in ’97,” Graap said. “I said, listen, these plaid kilts are what the team was wearing 12, 15 years ago … and to still be sharing with field hockey … A huge factor in accepting the position was realizing that they were moving on the right path and were willing to keep growing women’s lacrosse and I think we’ve all seen that that pays off.”

Women’s sports have changed the physical landscape at Cornell as well. In 1998, the Niemand-Robison Softball Field was completed, replacing an off-campus field that was difficult to find and not well-maintained.

Beyond legal requirements, coaches and administrators agree that Cornell the athletic community has a pervasive feeling of family and cooperation that crosses gender boundaries.

“I think that all of us feel like Cornell lacrosse is a big family and we don’t have to distinguish men’s or women’s, it’s just Cornell lacrosse,” Graap said. “And certainly the men have had years and years of the Richie Moran success, and the national championships and so on. We want to get our program so that we can be eye-to-eye so that we can have our heads held high too.”

This drive for excellence is a common goal from individual players to the top of the athletic administration.

“I think it is just a matter of time before a number of these [women’s] programs rise to the point where they have major profiles — not just on campus, but in the league and in eastern and national athletics,” Noel said.

Dutcher has watched the journey from traveling in old vans with bad brakes, sleeping in the homes of players to compete in championship tournaments, and eating three meals a day at McDonald’s on the road to the modern programs with pride.

“If you don’t have to worry about all that other stuff, then you have more time to do what you’ve been hired to do and what you love to do, and that’s coaching your team,” she said. “It’s like sitting back and watching your children grow. You’re just happy that they’re growing up and they’re getting what they’re getting and they’re successful.”

Nobody believes that the work to propel women’s athletics into the realm of excellence is done, however.

“My goals and my vision for women’s sports at Cornell are absolutely identical to my goals and visions for men’s sports at Cornell and that is first of all, for our students-athletes first and foremost to have a challenging and fulfilling and positive experience,” Noel said. “And so to the extent that we are able to support our programs to compete for championships we are focused on providing that level of not just resources … but the sense of caring and the sense of support beyond dollars and cents.