- Hometown: Webster Groves Missouri (suburb of St. Louis)
- Sports: There was no organized sports at my high school. My father taught his children, all daughters, how to play tennis, softball, touch football and basketball. He also taught us how to canoe, sail and keep score at a baseball game. At Wesleyan, I played varsity tennis (1 year) and varsity squash (3 years). I continued to play squash in Iaw school and tennis until my children went to college. I played coed softball in law school and women’s softball after law school. I stopped playing organized sports with the birth of my second child due to time constraints. I taught my children many of the things my father taught me. On their own, they found ultimate Frisbee, ice hockey and roller derby. During college, they also worked as official scorers for college’s sports teams.
- Major: American History
- Profession: Lawyer
- Career after Wesleyan: I graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1980. I practiced law in Milwaukee from 1980 to my retirement a few years ago. I was the second female lawyer at my firm, the first married female lawyer, and the first lawyer to get pregnant and ask for a leave. My athletic career at Wesleyan prepared me to set goals and develop the confidence to speak up. I convinced lawyers who were still not sure I should be a lawyer at all that I could get the job done, even if I was a mother.
- Favorite memory at Wes: My favorite memory is the lack of social hierarchy. My senior class at high school had 600 students. The social structure was similar to the Hollywood portrayal of high school life. At Wesleyan, my friends had different views and interests. My choices were not limited. An important memory was the day Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973. A group of 2-3 students were celebrating with joy and noise in the middle of the day. What caused this celebration was the news of the SCOTUS decision.
- Achievements at Wesleyan: I played a varsity sport every year. I worked at McConaughy for 3 years, starting as “dessert girl” and ending as dinner student manager. I was an RA senior year. I learned to write critically thanks to Professor Don Meyer and others. I met my husband
Thoughts on the initial passage of Title IX: I graduated from high school June of 1972. Title IX was passed that summer (a fact of which I was ignorant for several months). My father was my only instructor before Wesleyan. Looking to find people to play tennis with, I signed up for a tennis PE class fall of my freshman year. After the first week, Don Long, the instructor, approached me and essentially told me that I would be on the tennis team in the spring. He also urged me to take squash as a PE class in the winter, which I did. In spring 1973 in the first intercollegiate match I won, I lost the first set 0-6 and then won the next two sets easily. It That match, I began to learn how to compete mentally.
We were handed our official Wesleyan tennis dresses the day before our first match. The style reflected Wimbledon 30 years earlier. We refused to wear these dresses after the first match. Instead we wore Wesleyan tennis t-shirts and our own shorts.
We played Trinity, Williams and, at least one time, Yale. Most of the players on these teams had in prep school. We played our best, and usually lost most matches. We did beat Smith and maybe others.
I see from the alumni magazine that women’s athletics are competitive and the athletes talented and committed. Way to go Wes!
