Dr. Carole Mushier:

 Trailblazer of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)

Photo: ncaa.org

Before Dr. Carole Mushier became an activist and a leading voice of Title IX legislation, the former athlete, coach, administrator, and academic remembers playing on as many as five varsity teams in one year during high school. Growing up on the north shore of Long Island, New York, she knew that most girls did not have the same opportunities in their communities and schools to play varsity sports as she did. But when it came to playing sports in college, the opportunities were not there, and those experiences laid the foundation for her life’s work.

“The one thing I remember when I was graduating from high school and I was going to college is when my father said to me, ‘These boys are getting scholarships to play sports. You were voted best athlete for your class. Why can’t you get a scholarship?’” Mushier said, “That would be a scholarship to a nonexistent program.”¹

As she enrolled at Boston University (BU) in the mid-1950s, there were no varsity teams for Mushier to compete on. She remembers cutthroat intramural competition, but nothing resembling intercampus competition. She would satisfy her competitive spirit by playing lacrosse, field hockey, and basketball on adult association teams. The nationwide associations in field hockey and lacrosse were highly competitive and, in many instances, were the grounds for picking the best players to represent the United States in international competition. After graduating with a degree in physical education from Sargent College at BU, Mushier was a high school teacher for three years while coaching the girls’ lacrosse, field hockey, track and field, and basketball teams.

Mushier attended Columbia University for her master’s degree from 1961 to 1962. During that time she was the director of women’s physical activities at St. John’s University and she continued her own participation in sports, adding golf to her repertoire.

In 1962, she moved to East Stroudsburg State College as an assistant professor. She coached both the women’s basketball and lacrosse teams and from 1965 to 1967 she served as the director of women’s athletics. In 1964, still active as a player, Mushier represented the U.S. lacrosse team during a nine-week tour of Great Britain and Ireland.

From 1967 to 1969, Mushier enrolled at the University of Southern California to work on her doctoral degree. At USC, she became heavily involved with research in sport psychology and sociology. Mushier’s dissertation, titled “Personality and Selected Women Athletes,” was published in 1972 in the International Journal of Sport Psychology. Mushier’s study found that “the similarities between the athletes regardless of age or experience level suggests that self-selection into sports competition on the basis of existing personality factors may be the prime reason for the personality structure of competitors and not the effect of the experience of sports competition.” Even after her dissertation was published, Mushier hoped to continue her research and expand on the findings. In 1970, she accepted a position at SUNY College at Cortland as an associate professor, ready to leave the world of athletics and to continue her research.

“I felt my career had taken a different turn and after getting my PhD I was an academic,” she said. “Once you get a PhD, you should do regular research. The research I did for my dissertation is still considered a classic in the field.”

When she arrived at SUNY at Cortland, Mushier couldn’t help but be pulled back into athletic administration. She found the university was trying to organize a serious women’s athletic department. At first, she coached the field hockey team and then, when she saw stronger leadership was needed to steer the women’s program, she accepted an administrative position. “I got thrust back and I’m not sorry,” Mushier said. “It was a wild ride, but a great ride.”

Beginning in 1972, Mushier became involved with the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). She first became involved at the state level when she was elected president of the New York State AIAW and she served in that capacity from 1974 to 1976. From the moment she returned to athletic administration, Mushier was involved in the development and the passing of Title IX into federal law.

In 1976, Mushier served as the president of the Eastern Region of the AIAW, continuing to form the policies that directly affected the AIAW and women’s athletics in the United States. In 1979, she served as the national president of the AIAW, the year in which an interpretation policy was passed for Title IX to determine whether schools were in compliance with the law. As AIAW president, Mushier testified before Congress and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She is proud of her colleagues for staying the course during the passing of Title IX.

“In the fall of 1979 the ‘final guidelines’ came out for Title IX and that was during my term,” Mushier said. “We were successful in them not excluding football from the equation. The NCAA [National Collegiate Athletics Association] spent millions against us to exempt football from Title IX.”

With the passing of Title IX, Mushier was keenly aware of the consequences the AIAW would face. The AIAW had formed a model for women’s athletics that differed from the NCAA. In December 1979, Mushier made this statement: “We’re going to win the law of the land, but we’re going to lose our organization.”

“With the passing of Title IX and with football included, women’s athletics was going to become very important,” Mushier said. “It was going to be such a ripe plum on the tree that somebody had to come and pluck it.”

In 1982, armed with more money and influence, the NCAA took over as the governing body of women’s intercollegiate athletics and the AIAW ceased to exist. Mushier wanted more time to develop the model the AIAW had created for women athletes, hoping that the NCAA would incorporate more of that outline. “I hoped that they would give us a little more time,” Mushier said. “We had a model for women’s intercollegiate athletics. It was not a business model. We wanted to keep it more academic—no less competitive, however.”

Mushier is also proud of signing million-dollar contracts with NBC and then-fledgling ESPN. She said the two networks were primarily focused on airing women’s basketball, but under her presidency the AIAW negotiated the inclusion of other women’s championships. Mushier also helped negotiate the broadcasting of women’s sports at the Division II and III levels. She looks at Title IX as a revolutionary step in women’s athletics, but she also knows that more than 35 years after Title IX was passed into law, not all women are receiving equal opportunities to play. “There’s no doubt that Title IX changed the face of sport—men’s and women’s—not that it’s been without its problems,” she said. “I know there are still people that ask, ‘Why does a girls’ softball team have to have a decent practice field?’ It’s certainly better than it was. Is it perfect? No. Is there a perfect world? I doubt it.”

Today, Mushier is retired and living in Fort Pierce, Florida, continuing her work as an activist by becoming a leading voice for her community. In 2007, she was elected president of the Fort Pierce South Beach Association, an 800-member organization that represents more than 3,000 residents of the barrier island. She also remains active with the Women’s Sports Foundation as a volunteer, where she served on the Foundation’s executive board in 1979. At the 2008 Women’s Basketball Final Four, Mushier attended a “Women of Experience” luncheon and met with many of her colleagues from the AIAW and others, whom she affectionately referred to as the “oldie goldies.” Mushier credits her opportunities to coach as an influence in building a philosophy for her career and in leaving a legacy for women in sport.

“If you look back, most of the presidents of the AIAW were coaches,” Mushier said. “I think it gives you a perspective of what’s going on out [in the playing fields]. I had an educational model for my kids. It was not “win” at all costs—it can’t be in my mind.”

Note

[1] All of the quotes in this article are by Carole Mushier, from an interview with the author on May 30, 2008.

This excerpt was written by Horacio Ruiz.