Cary Sue Groth:

 Leader at the NCAA Division I-A Level

University of Nebraska Reno

Nevada Wolf Pack Bio

Northern Illinois Hall of Fame

This is Reno

 

The last time Cary Groth was referred to as a “girl” she wasn’t in junior high school, she was in the process of being hired as director of athletics at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Northern Illinois University (NIU). Before her hiring, someathletic department employees complained that the university couldn’t possibly “hire ‘this girl’ to run the athletic program.”1 Much to their dismay, the university proudly turned over control of Huskie

Athletics to Groth, an alumna who had been with the department for 10 years. The “girl” promptly began to flex her administrative muscle, dedicating herself to the improvement of the NIU athletic department for the good of the student-athletes and the university at-large.

 

Groth came to NIU as a student-athlete and, after spending three years teaching at a high school, returned as an assistant tennis coach. Over the next 10 years she climbed the ranks in the Huskie

athletic department, eventually being selected to fill the role of athletic director in 1994. Gender aside, Groth was facing a number of major challenges, including looming facility upgrades, questionable leadership in the football program, and funding issues. Groth never

blinked.

 

Despite any doubts that her detractors may have had about a woman’s ability to make the difficult decisions required of a Division I athletic director, Groth stood strong in her defense of the best interests of Huskie athletics. After a disappointing 1995 football season, Groth made a major coaching change and hired a new head coach in hopes of introducing “stability and direction” to the struggling NIU football program.2 She had officially been on the job for

over a year, but this decisive coaching change effectively announced Groth’s arrival as a force to be reckoned with in collegiate athletic administration. Although the next two years of Huskie football proved to be rough, the new coach turned the program around, allowing Groth to focus on other pressing issues within the department.

 

Groth’s next big task was removing NIU from the Big West Conference, an awkward fit for a Midwestern school, and realigning the university with the Mid-American Conference to the benefit of all Huskie sports programs. With this accomplished, Groth tackled major fundraising and facilities projects, including the building of the 10,000-seat Convocation Center and the revival of the Huskie booster club. Even with major projects like these successfully completed, Groth considered her proudest accomplishment to be the “improvements in graduation rates and the growing recognition on campus of what a successful athletic program can bring to an institution.”3 In keeping with these points of pride, Groth took great pains to establish the AIM Program to address discrepancies in African-

American student-athlete graduation rates and the Academic Excellence Program to recognize student-athletes with high or improving GPAs. To Groth, all of these tasks contributed to the establishment of a strong and well-rounded athletic department.

 

After over 20 years of service to NIU, Groth made a major decision in 2004. She elected to accept the position of athletic director at the University of Nevada, Reno, having previously been a finalist for the same position at Northwestern University. Although she found it difficult to leave the university that had been her home for so many years, Groth was clearly excited about the possibility offered by the University of Nevada Wolfpack. Upon her hiring, she commented on Nevada’s commitment to “building things the right way, from the ground up.”3 This concept of the “right way” forms the core of Groth’s philosophy for athletic administration. She has committed herself to making each decision with the big picture in mind, taking into account the needs of the student-athletes, the athletic department, the university, and the community. Each day brings new challenges, but Groth’s values and goals remain consistent.

 

Under Groth’s guidance, the Wolfpack achieved a new level of athletic achievement with numerous teams winning Western Athletic Conference Championships and Tournament Titles. In 2007, Nevada won the Western Athletic Conference Commissioner’s Cup, recognizing the Conference’s best athletic department, for the first

time in school history. The department has also won awards for its commitment to diversity and equality, including the Diversity in Athletics Award from the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport. In addition, Groth has helped facilitate a number of capital improvements and fundraising opportunities and continues to helm the Wolfpack as they strive to attain new milestones.

 

Personally, Groth has garnered awards and honors throughout her career for her abilities as a leader and commitment to athletic excellence. Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal in 1998 named her one of the “Super 50: Women’s Sports Executives,” and she has since been lauded by the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletic Administrators (NACWAA). In 2002, while still at NIU, Groth was appointed to the Title IX “Commission on Opportunities

in Athletics,” a role that allowed her to take part in innovative policy interpretation. Even with all of these accolades, Groth takes pride in the fact that the main responsibility of her job is service to student-athletes. When asked to look back on her involvement in athletics, Groth comments, “I have been extremely blessed to have been a part of intercollegiate athletics for the past 30 plus years as an athlete, coach, and administrator. The life I have been fortunate to live has been one

of great experiences and joy due to the many students and colleagues that I have worked with throughout the years. I can’t think of a better profession to be involved with.”4 Groth, through her dedication, perseverance, and commitment to the “right way,” has passed these blessings along to her student-athletes and colleagues.

Notes

1. “Q&A with Cary Groth,” Athletic Management, 14.6, October/November

2002.

2. Ibid.

3. Melanie Magara, “NIU AD Cary Groth Accepts Top Job at University of

Nevada,” Northern Today, March 9, 2004, http://www.niu.edu/northerntoday/2004/

mar9/carygroth.shtml.

4. Magara, “NIU AD Cary Groth Accepts.”

 

 

The exerpt above was written by Catherine Lahey