An anonymous alum donated $350,000 to women’s varsity athletics at Washington University this past week. The news comes as a welcome surprise to the University which is known more for its recent contributions to the Mars Rovers and its hosting of a Presidential debate next fall than for anything relating to athletics, despite the fact that the women’s varsity volleyball and basketball teams have a combined twelve championships during the past fifteen years. The donation will be used to create the Nancy Fahey Women’s Athletic Endowment Fund.

“The wonderful gift received is an extraordinary tribute to Nancy Fahey, a gifted personality who can motivate, lead, coach and on occasion provoke,” said University Athletics Director John Schael. “Her ‘can do’ attitude coupled with her quest for excellence continues to be inspirational not only for the young women who play and played for her, but as well for her colleagues and friends within the athletic department and the broader Washington University community.”

Nancy Fahey began coaching the Bears women’s varsity basketball team in 1986 and since has led the team to renowned success. She helped established Washington University as one of the elite among Division III schools and as one of the greatest basketball programs in collegiate history.

“I just feel very honored that they would even want to put my name on anything,” said Fahey.

In her eighteen years as head coach of Washington University’s varsity basketball team, Fahey has compiled a 420-69 record for an astounding .859 winning percentage which is first among all active coaches. Her team’s 81 game winning streak from February of 1998 to January of 2001 is second all time in NCAA history, all divisions included, to John Wooden’s streak of 88, set by his UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team during the early 1970’s. The University’s streak included two undefeated seasons crowned by championships, making them the second team in NCAA history to achieve such a feat. From 1997 to 2001 the Bears won four consecutive championships, becoming the third team in NCAA history to do so. During the streak, the Bears won 116 games and lost only four. The team this year has a 17-3 record, and is tied for first in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Conference. The Bears are currently ranked 8th in the polls.

The Nancy Fahey Women’s Athletic Endowment Fund will be used “in terms of travel assistance, purchase of equipment, supplies, uniforms, and whatever it is they might need for their programs that they weren’t able to purchase in the past,” said Schael. The donation proves most helpful to the University which has received few donations from alumni in the past in support of athletics, and derives little to no money from the sports themselves. This differs greatly from Division I schools whose football and basketball teams are multimillion dollar revenue generators. With the sports generating little revenue on their own, the University is normally forced to allocate a minimum amount of money and resources to the program. Historically, alumni have typically had little interest. While the money itself should prove to be very valuable for the women’s athletic teams, the actual size of the donation and the significance of an alum showing such substantial interest in athletics may prove to provide greater influence in the future allocation of the University’s resources.

“This thoughtful and generous gift provides a source of funding and a way to pay tribute to the extraordinary career of Nancy Fahey at Washington University, for which we are extremely grateful,” said Chancellor Mark Wrighton in a recent press release.

Athletics, in particular women’s athletics, have endured a turbulent existence during its tenure at the University. From 1890 to 1906, when athletics first began to spread throughout the campus, the University claimed an “independent” status meaning it had no conference affiliation for its varsity teams. This, in turn, meant there was little organization or cohesion in terms of scheduling, league rivals, etc. In 1907 the Missouri Valley Conference was created, which lasted until 1946, when then Chancellor Arthur Holly Compton, to the dismay of both alumni and student body, abandoned it, citing a need for “participation in athletics without financial inducements or rewards” (Athletics at Wash U.). In 1955, the entire women’s intercollegiate athletic program was thrown out all together. The University joined the College Athletic Conference in 1962, but the University’s affiliation with the conference lasted only until 1971, when again the school ran independently.

The 1970’s was a time of substantial change for University athletics and for professional women’s athletics altogether. The Department of Sports and Recreation was created in 1977 which later became the Department of Athletics in 1983. Not until 1975 did swimming, tennis and volleyball become official varsity women’s events. Women’s track joined in 1977, and in 1979 women’s basketball followed. The tumultuous history of women’s athletics at the University can be summed up in the fact that women’s varsity athletic teams were not allowed to share the training room or the Field House with the men’s teams until 1979. During this time, however, the University continued its progress. All coaches were employed full time in 1980. In 1987 the University, along with Carnegie Mellon University, Case Western Reserve University, University of Chicago, Emory University, Johns Hopkins University, New York University, University of Rochester, and Brandeis University, joined together to form the UAA. Today, the UAA still contains the same members with the exception of Johns Hopkins University, which left in 2001.

“If you look 20 years back do you think anything would have happened?” said Fahey.

Twenty to thirty years ago, such a donation was inconceivable. Yet after eight championships by the varsity volleyball team-including six straight from 1991 to 1996 and one this year-and four straight championships by the basketball team, one might ask, “What took so long?” The largest single donation in athletics history, this gift joins Stanley and Lucy Lopata’s as well as Art and Marge MacWilliams’ donations, which were used to create the Lopata Basketball Classic for the men and the McWilliams Basketball Classic for the women, as the greatest contributions to athletics at the University.

“I think that’s a wonderful tribute to the success that women’s athletics has had in the past and it’s going to help benefit the programs as they move into the future,” said Schael.

From a varsity basketball player Lesley Hawley’s perspective, however, $350,000 conjures up only one thought:

“That’s a lot of money.”

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