The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, September 20, 1993- 5
The New 'M'
Athletic Department
Women's athletics continue to rise
Bradley-Doppes a key element in recent conference success
By RYAN HERRINGTON
DAILY SPORTS EDITOR
While Peggy Bradley-Doppes' 18-
month tenure as associate athletic di-
rector for women's athletics might not
seem like much time, what she's done
has been anything but short on results.
For the first time in Big Ten history,
a single school produced five confer-
ence championships in women's sports
in one season when Michigan accom-
plished that feat last year. Bradley-
Doppes hopes that this is but the tip of
the iceberg for Wolverine women's
athletics.
"I believe with the program that
Michigan has at this time thatwe should
be first or second in the Big Ten (in all
sports) and, therefore, regionally and
nationally competitive," Bradley-
Doppes said.
Promoting women's athletics has
been nothing new for Bradley-Doppes.
In administrative positions at Miami
(Ohio) and North Carolinabefore com-
ing to Ann Arbor as the women's vol-
leyball coach, Bradley-Doppes has
been involved in women's athletics for
over a decade. She sees some parallels
between coaching and administration.
"I thinka lotof the exact same work
ethic and discipline, a lot of the same
goals and objectives I had as a coach,
I implemented as an administrator,"
Bradley-Doppes said.
Last year's success has carried over
this fall. The Wolverine women's cross
country team is ranked third in the coun-
try and the field hockey team sits at No.
8.
Bradley-Doppes attributes much of
the women's programs rise to the cali-
ber of athletes that Michigan attracts as
well as the men and women who run
each individual programs.
'Truly, the strength of our athletic
department, I believe, is not only the
student-athlete, but our coaches," Bra-
dley-Doppes said."Our coaches are the
teachers, the role models and they've
been able to bring some of the best and
brightest minds, and the most gifted
athletes here to Michigan.
"I think you put that in with admin-
istrative support and the upgrade of
facilities, I think it's contagious. And
the end product -is you have a very
successful program."
A continued effort to afford women
an equal opportunity to participate in
athletics on the collegiate level is also
one of the goals of the new athletic
director, Joe Roberson. Roberson has
stated that the gender equity issue is one
of his main concerns.
'We're deeply committed to equal-
ity of women in athletics," Roberson
said. "I think Michigan can be a model
in how to be successful in a broad range
of sports with high integrity and high
academic achievement."
Bradley-Doppes also sees Michi-
gan taking on a leadership role in ath-
letics.
"I think it's something that by na-
ture, or virtue, of us being Michigan
we're put in that position."
Yet Bradley-Doppes feels that the
women's department should not be
separate from the rest of the athletic
programs when thinking towards the
future.
"I don't see it as the focus of
women's athletics, but rather all inter-
collegiate athletics," Bradley-Doppes
said. "I was someone very early in my
stay here who didn't see it as women's
athletics but rather as intercollegiate
athletics in terms of where we're go-
ing."
Despite the recent rise of women's
athletics, the department will be in a
state of transition during the next few
years. With the Big Ten conference
mandate on gender equity mandating
that no less than40percentofaschool's
athletes be female and no more than 60
percentbemale by 1997, Michigan has
already begun to adjust its structure.
The addition of women's soccer
next fall, and the elimination of men's
gymnastics will allow Michigan tomeet
the conference requirements, as ath-
letic director Jack Weidenbach has
stated.
However, the women's department
is also looking at other sports that
might be capable of gaining varsity
status in the not to distant future.
"When you talk about adding a
sport, it's unbelievable when you think
about the start-up costs," Bradley-
Doppes said. "So at this time we're
looking at facilities we have, and to be
very candid, we're looking at the nata-
torium which is amagnificent facility.
Could we use that facility more? Could
we add a sport like water polo? What's
going on across the country regarding
the sport of crew?
"There has been talk about other
sports, but at this time what we're
doing is getting budgets from across
the country, looking to see what's go-
ing on.in our conference. It doesn't
make sense toaddasport if the compe-
tition isn't going to be regional. So
there are a lot of pieces that go into the
puzzle."
Ultimately, Bradley-Doppes sees
only continued improvement for the
women's program going into the next
century.
"I believe here at Michigan we're
going to continue to see that kind of
growth and development. I think as
opportunities are increased, the tradi-
tion will be expanded and enhanced.
So I see things as being very, very
positive."
EVAN PETRIE/Daily
Women's athletics has grown during the last few years, winning five Big Ten
championships in one season, the first time any conference school has done so.
Currently, two women's sports are in the top 10 in the country.
Plan to groom administrators draws praise
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By RYAN HERRINGTON level were given the opportunities to
DAILY SPORTS WRITER broaden their base. We do thathere now
When President Duderstadt an- and we have been doing that."
nounced the appointment of Joe While Duderstadt did not mention
Roberson as the new athletic director, anyone specifically, several associate
he also introduced a plan that would athleticdirectorsareexpectedtobegiven
allow others in the Michigan athletic broader responsibilites in hopes of de-
departmentto develop their administra- veloping their administrative skills.
tive skills. Among them are Peggy Bradley-
'We're committing ourselves to Doppes, Bob DeCarolis, Fritz Seyferth
building a process of rotating and Mike Stevenson.
assigments,"Duderstadtsaidat the press "BobDeCarolis, whohandles allmy
conference. "Our hope to create a na- plant and all of the business operations
tional succession at the University of and the whole ticket business, he's a
Michigan for the future." great candidate to be an athletic director
While grooming younger some place," said Weidenbach about
adminstrators has occurred in the past, the associate athletic directors. "Fritz
a crystalized program is a first at (Seyferth) has a broad responsibility in
Michgan. terms of fund raising. Mike Stevenson
"Any manager or administrator of has been a successful administrator and
any department is always looking at when you look at how he's run the
ways to train people, so we've been intramural and club sports, we've got
doing that all along," Michigan athletic one of the best programs in the country.
director Jack Wedenbach said. "When I think that's proven by the number of
Icamedownhere, and you lookatwhen students who use those facilities.
I was the Director of Business opera- "Peggy has come in here new and
tions, those people at the management we've expanded her responsibilities.
ROBERSON "Fritz, in addition to being a profes-
We've got some great young people in
Jeff Long who has broader responsibili-
ties of handling the administrative ends
of both basketball and football. We have
Phil Hughes who's just come in here
and his opportunities have broadened
because he has proved he can do that.
"So we have a great team down here
and we've always given them opportu-
nity."
While no specific plans have been
laid out yet, Roberson feels that a struc-
tured program can only benefit the de-
partment as a whole.
"I heard the president's charge and
it's something Jack (Weidenbach) and I
will be working on," Roberson said. "I
need to find out in more detail exactly
what they're doing now and exactly
what they need to do to get the broad-
ened experience."
Many of the associate AD'sare look-
ing forward to a shift in responsibility.
Among them is Bradley-Doppes.
"I'm hungry to learn more and to
gain more experiences," Bradley-
Doppes said. "I believe the last seven
years is a good indication of my ability
to manage, tobe an administrator. But
I'm looking forward to the opportunity
of new challenges.
"I'm someone that likes change and
I'm someone that looks forward to the
opportunity to grow both personnally
and professionally. I see we have a
unique opportunity here with Joe
Roberson and having Jack stay on dur-
ing the transition."
While she is not sure how the plan
will ultimately come together, Bradley-
Doppes believes it is a necessary part of
the overall development of the depart-
ment.
"That's certainly going to be some-
thing where we see there's potential for
great leadership," Bradley-Doppes said.
'We've been provided with good lead-
ership but there's potential for great-
ness. What can we do to harness that?
"I think he was talking about usas an
entire department and I think it's some-
thing where we say, 'yes give us the
resources and watch us grow."'
SPORTS I. POFL
Continued from page 1
very important one at Michigan," he
admitted. "Frankly, we may end up
having to cut, but that's going tobealast
alternative. Our first alternative is tosee
how we can fund additions into the
women's program.... My intent is that,
to the extent possible, we're going to do
nothing to hurt any of the men's sports.
That may not be able to happen."
Maybe not. Then again, if one had
expressed a notion in August that Rob-
erson was going to land the AD job in
September, the speculation would have
* been treated as quite a farce. As it was,
Duderstadt's press conference played
hosttomany surprised individuals when
the president called Roberson to the
podium.
Roberson's name was not tossed
around outside University buildings as
a serious candidate for the position. A
search committee consisting of faculty,
student-athletes, alumni and staff inter-
viewed numerous hopefuls for the posi-
tion over a six-month period.
It was reported that a list of four
finalists was submitted to the president's
office. On the supposed list were Asso-
ciate AD Fritz Seyferth, North Carolina
AD Bob Swofford, former Wolverine
All-American football player and cur-
rent Seattle Seahawks director of sales
and marketing and offensive line coach
ReggieMacKenzieand Kansas AD Bob
Frederick.
sional colleague, is a good personal
friend. I see no reason at all why any of
Fritz' sgreatcontributions should change
a bit. I have had a number of conversa-
tions, including along, personal one the
day after this happened at a breakfast,
and Fritz and I are fine."
After Seyferth was notnamed, many
boosters threatened to cancel any future
plans to donate to the University.
Seyferth said he wanted the job and was
disappointed in not getting it. Roberson
steps into a situation that may be hostile
toward him through no fault of his own.
"It's the first time I've ever gotten a
job where somehow or another I had to
apologize for having a good working
relationship with my boss," he said "I
can't imagine that personnel policies
have changed enough that you can write
a job description that says one of the
criteria for the job is that you don't get
along with your boss. That seems to me
to be a little bit stupid."
It was Duderstadt's prerogative to
choose Roberson. The role of the search
committee was one that was purely
advisory to the president. Duderstadt
was in no way bound to the candidates
presented to him by the committee.
"The president pursued the process
through the candidates that he would be
comfortable with, and then decided to
go someplace else," Roberson ex-
plained. "I'm not uncomfortable with it
at all. If other people want to make it a
handicap for me to do this job then
out the entire search process and likely
will be the only regent to vote against
Roberson.
In 1984, Roberson was Interim
Chancellor of the University of Michi-
gan-Flint when the search for a new
chancellor was conducted. Roberson, a
man with deep athletic and professional
roots in Flint, was the local favorite to
get the job. However, he was not in the
final candidate pool and then-President
Harold Shapiro chose to go with some-
one outside Flint.
"While I very badly wanted the job,
I respected Harold Shapiro to the end
for having the strength of character to
do what he felt was right in the face of
a lot of pressure," Roberson confided.
"And frankly, I think it's one of the real
strengths of the University of Michigan
that the president can withstand those
kind of pressures and do what he thinks
is right in those circumstances."
When Roberson was up for the Flint
position, it was Baker who opposed
Shapiro's decision on Roberson's be-
half. Roberson and Baker profess their
son expects from alums who supported
Seyferth. While Roberson has a deep
background in academic fundraising
through his currentjob, he may find that
gathering dollars for athletic pursuits is
rather different.
Athletic fundraising has been
Seyferth' schargeas Associate AD.Since
their man was passed over by
Duderstadt, Seyferth's supporters may
feel a bit bruised and reluctant to con-
tribute to further projects.
"If there are people who feel their
donations entitle them to make presi-
dential decisions or athletic director
decisions, they shouldn't contribute
because they're not going to," Rober-
son stated. "We are not a booster- or a
donor-run institution. We never have
been and that doesn't happen now ei-
ther. So they have to make up their own
minds about that but I don't think we're
talking about a substantial number of
people."
If there are potential donors who
will steer clear of a Roberson-run ath-
letic department, they may have to wait
that, a decision will be made about
whether or not I'm still happy in the job
and he's happy in me being in the job.
And I will go on.
"If we disagree about that, then I
probably will get out. There is no auto-
matic termination at the end of three
years and anybody who thinks andplans
on that being the case is going to be in
for a disappointment. I'm going to love
thisjob and I'm going tobe in it for more
than three years. I'm not going to be in
it 10 (years) because I'm an old man."
That may be something that fac-
tored into Duderstadt's decision. Area-
soning the president gave for foregoing
the search committee's recommenda-
tions dealt with age and experience. He
said he believed there to be a handful of
top-notch candidates within the Michi-
gan family.
They all lacked something, though.
Duderstadt said that in the years to
come, he, along with Roberson, will
attempt to give these p'romising indi-
viduals the diversification and experi-
ence they need to move up the ranks.
"As we proceeded with the search, I
became more and more convinced that
within our athletic department and
among Michigan graduates nationally
there are some candidates with poten-
tial, many of whom were interviewed
by the search committee," Duderstadt
said. "While these candidates have po-
tential, each of them lacks the manage-
ment, personnel and financial experi-
ence I truly believe is vital to running an
the future AD said he truly appreciates.
The transition should be a slow one as
the University must find a suitable re-
placement for the campaign's director.
"The president is very anxious to be
sure that there's a transition in the Cam-
paign for Michigan that's smooth,'
Roberson said. "And that hewants to be
sure new leadership is in place tobe sure
that this goes down before I can spend a
lot of time (on the athletic campus).
"My expectation is that it may be
April orMay before I' mspending virtu-
ally full-time (on the athletic campus)
as I begin to get closer and closer. It's
going to be very gradual because I am
not going to walk out of here until I am
comfortable with the way things are in
the campaign."
Undoubtedly Duderstadt' snomina-
tion of Roberson will be confirmed by
the Board of Regents Friday -despite
Baker's opposition.
Personifying the recent trend in col-
lege athletics of hiring people for top
positions from outside the world of
sports, Roberson definitely has much to
learn. He will have the time to do it -
nine months to be precise. During that
period, not only must he learn how to
run a major athletic program, he must
also deal with living up to the standard
set by former directors. That is one
thing with which reading will not help.
"As I look back at the legends of
Michigan in terms of contribution, all
the way back to (Fielding) Yost and on
through (Don) Canham and