Several U of L teams were led by part-time coaches. Most lacked scholarships and facilities to compete on the NCAA Division I level. Many shared old, inadequate locker rooms and training facilities. Teams in popular sports such as softball and golf simply didn't exist.

Now, less than five years later, the program has turned around. The university has added three women's sports and dramatically upgraded four others. Several teams are led by coaches who worked with or played on Olympic or national teams.

A softball program only three years old compiled a winning league record this year in a conference that sent two teams to the College World Series in 2000. And a field hockey team that had lost 34 straight games and 46 of 47 from 1996 through 1998 finished this season ranked 14th in the nation.

That this emergence has happened is impressive. That it has happened in fewer than five years and without dramatically cutting men's sports has been remarkable, says a top gender equity consultant.
It also is a change that has made other universities take notice.

"There was an enormous change here," says Lamar Daniels, one of the nation's leading consultants on gender equity issues. "People around the country are talking about the University of Louisville."

Leadership helped turn it around
U of L's improvement from a gender equity laughingstock to an emerging power in women's athletics began in 1996 when then-President John Shumaker and athletics director Bill Olsen hired Daniels to audit the U of L program.

A former investigator with the Office of Civil Rights, Daniels looked at U of L for compliance with Title IX, the federal act mandating gender equity in intercollegiate athletics programs. Over his 26-year career Daniels has reviewed about 140 institutions for Title IX compliance.

What he found at U of L was, in his words, "possibly the worst situation I had ever seen."

Despite competitive teams in women's basketball and volleyball, Daniels found a program that had poor facilities, part-time coaches and a field hockey field that was "just awful."

"It was bad," he says. "It was as bad as a program gets."

Along with a football team on its way to a 1-10 record and basketball and volleyball programs about to be hit with NCAA sanctions, the athletics department faced the possibility of a Title IX lawsuit if changes weren't made, Daniels says.

He recommended that the university cut several men's teams to help balance the commitment to men's and women's sports.

After Olsen retired in 1997 Shumaker set out to find an athletic director who could tackle the issues facing the department.

He found Tom Jurich.

Jurich, athletic director at Colorado State University, was chosen in part for his experience in building that school's athletics program to national prominence. Just as important, Shumaker says, was Jurich's effort to build the program into a model of gender equity success.

"Tom clearly had the energy, enthusiasm and professionalism not only to restore our marquee programs, but also to build our other sports programs to national prominence," Shumaker says. "He had what it took to turn the program around."

But while Jurich was undaunted by the task of rebuilding football and restoring basketball to its storied past, he was concerned about cutting teams to promote gender equity.

"Because of the football and NCAA problems I didn't feel it was appropriate to drop another bomb and cut three sports," Jurich says.

Instead of cutting, he decided to build.

Rapid changes made a statement
Jurich quickly announced that U of L would add three sports by the 1999-2000 season-softball, women's golf and women's rowing. In addition he began the task of rebuilding the soccer, swimming, field hockey and track and field teams to compete at the Division I level.

In some cases he brought in new coaches. He increased scholarship opportunities. He gave the programs bigger budgets.

He also brought in Julie Hermann, an assistant coach with the USA Volleyball program, as associate athletic director. Hermann, who played and coached at major programs such as Nebraska, Georgia and Tennessee, helped Jurich plot the course for the Cardinals.

"Julie has been a strong leader in developing this program," Jurich says. "This vision is as much hers as it is mine."

Jurich and Hermann quickly boosted opportunities in women's sports. They brought in more athletes, an increase from 147 in 1996-97 to 239 in 2000-01. They dramatically increased the budget, from $1.6 million to more than $4.3 million. They more than doubled the money available for women's scholarships, from $880,000 to more than $1.8 million.

"The money for scholarships was key," says field hockey coach Pam Bustin. "We needed to have the money to recruit scholarship athletes. We have 12 full scholarships, which puts us on the same level with the teams we're trying to compete with."

With his coaching and administrative staffs in place, Jurich was confident the program was headed in the right direction. However, the programs still lacked suitable locker rooms, practice facilities and even playing fields.
Opportunity was sitting across the street.

A gravel lot dotted with several condemned buildings filled most of the block bordered by Cardinal Boulevard, Warnock and Floyd streets and Interstate 65. U of L had used the area for several years as a temporary parking lot.

The university originally had obtained the property in the mid-1980s for a project called University Park, which would have included a fieldhouse and some other athletic facilities.

However, Jurich had grander ideas.

"Here's the front lawn of this university, and at one time it was nothing but a crumbling parking lot and some old buildings," he says. "Thirty-six million people drive past this university on I-65 every year. We wanted something that would make a statement."

In 1998 Shumaker, Jurich and community leader Owsley Brown Frazier launched the Cardinal Park project, a $48 million campaign to build a top-flight collection of athletic facilities in a park-like setting.

The community quickly followed Frazier's lead, contributing about $14 million for the first phase of the project. U of L students voted in a $15 per semester fee to help pay for a natatorium.

On Aug. 30, 2000, U of L dedicated Cardinal Park.

Cardinal Park "gives us needed facilities for our teams," Jurich says. "It gives us the facilities needed so we can compete for recruits. And it's a community project that everyone can use.

"Perhaps most important," he adds, "it gives this university an identity. Cardinal Park and our emphasis on gender equity help promote an image of integrity and class in our programs."

Officials at other institutions agree.

"One cannot help but be impressed with the continued development of facilities and the energy that is evident in the Louisville athletic department, all of which is a tribute to Tom's leadership," says Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive.

Daniels adds, "Around the country, people are all impressed with (U of L's) facilities."

Building for the future
The combination of facilities and commitment to gender equity is paying dividends on the playing field and in recruiting battles. U of L is now competing with other major schools for athletes in several women's sports-and winning.

Keola Calderon, an all-C-USA softball player from Orcutt, Calif., says the attitude among coaches and athletics officials convinced her to look at U of L.

"As soon as I got here, I fell in love with the program," she says. "The excitement in the athletics department and the promise of the new facilities really helped me feel this was going to be special."

That promise has been fulfilled. Calderon points to "first-class" coaching, training and locker room facilities, equipment, travel conditions and competition as evidence that U of L is taking care of its female athletes.

"We're very spoiled," she laughs. "We get treated very well."

It also makes it easier to lure top coaches and to keep them here.

"I can't imagine finding a better place to work than Louisville," says Bustin, the field hockey coach. "We're the hottest thing going right now."

Of course maintaining facilities and paying high-quality coaches can be expensive. The increased budget for women's athletics, combined with a down economy and lower-than-anticipated revenues in some other areas, has contributed to a budget deficit of more than $1 million in 2001-02.

Jurich and his staff have developed plans to balance that budget. (See "U of L addresses financial pressures" on page 19). Those plans don not include scaling back his commitment to gender equity.

"Seeing our women start to prosper on a national level creates a healthy environment for the entire program and for the university," Jurich says. "Do you see financial benefits? Probably not. Will we see financial benefits in the future? Maybe not. But it's just the right thing to do."

Finances aside, the commitment clearly is benefiting the students.

"We get to have experiences here that I would not get at some other places," says softball player Lisa McMillan, a junior catcher from Jeffersontown, Ky. "There is so much you can learn from the experiences outside of softball, and they'll help me prepare for when I graduate from college and down the road."