Lobo Posted July 25, 2003 Share Posted July 25, 2003 SPORTING LIFE: Time-outs are few and far between for Athletic Director Debbie Yow. By Laura Geiser (1994) On the corner of the table in the reception area of Debbie Yow’s office is a worn little book titled God Cares About Your Work. Yow did not write the book, but she may as well have. As the university’s director of athletics, Yow oversees 15 intercollegiate varsity sports: eight for men and seven for women. Because of her strong faith, she is certain that God cares about her work. And, thanks to St. Louis media fishbowl, so does everybody else. But that’s OK with Yow. “I welcome anything that helps us advance the program – as long as it’s not illegal or immoral. It sure beats the alternative, which would be that nobody knows and nobody cares.†And people certainly care about Debbie Yow. “I didn’t grow up thinking I wanted to be an athletic director.†Yow said from her photo- adorned office in the refurbished Bauman-Eberhardt Athletic Center (the old West Pine Gym). “To the best of my knowledge there were no female athletic directors then. I aspired to be a high school English teacher and a coach.†In 1976, Yow’s aspirations changed. She was selected as head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of Kentucky from more than 200 applicants From Kentucky she moved on to coaching at Oral Roberts University and the University of Florida. She became involved in administration at Florida and then at University of North Carolina-Greensboro. “I thought I would end up as senior women’s administrator, supervising the women’s sports. But as things would have it, I gained supervisory experience in both men’s and women’s programs. That put me in a position where I would be considered a viable candidate for this job.†The rest, as they say, is history At the press conference where she was named athletic director, Yow outlined three goals for the University’s athletic program: to graduate student-athletes at a rate of 85 percent, to maintain a quality environment for athletes and coaches, and to increase the level of achievement of sports. As she begins her fifth year, where do those goals stand? Yow responded modestly, “We’re a little ahead of schedule – certainly with what Coach Charlie Spoonhour’s been able to achieve in men’s basketball with the return to the tournament for the first time in 37 years. That happened more quickly than we thought it might. “Soccer continues to perennially be a top 10 program in the country.†You continued. “We would like to win the national championship in soccer, and I share that goal with Coach Joe Clarke. “We just hired the best women’s volleyball coach in the entire United States. Marilyn McReavy Nolan has won three Division I national championships, coached 32 All-Americans and played on the 1968 Olympic team herself. We might go to our first NCAA tournament in volleyball in the next couple years under her leadership.†Graduation rates have met expectations, placing the University among the top 10 schools in the nation in graduating student athletes. “Our graduation rates are 85 percent this year. Last year it was 92 percent. We’re very proud of that. We continue to win conference academic awards.†Yow has brought her winning attitude to her work environment. “One of the major projects over the last four years has been the development of a managerially sound infrastructure. For example, in the summer of 1990 when I started here, there was one personal computer and one electronic typewriter in this whole department, no full-time ticket manager, no full-time marketing/promotions person, no full-time compliance person. We were not staffed to be an effective and achieving Division I program.†Yow has changed all that and also has introduced new ventures such as a six-year Title IX plan to better women’s sports opportunities, the Billiken Club, the first-ever restricted annual gift program for athletics; and the Sporting Geography program, which teaches geography to grade-school-age children through Billiken athletics. She also has taken the University’s mission to heart, using her programs as community service outlets. “We’ve concentrated on developing a public service outreach for each of our 15 teams. Each team and coach is required to select a charity with which to work. That’s going very nicely and growing. “We’re trying to do s little bit more than be competitive athletically, we’re trying to give something back to the community.†Yow hopes to continue the department’s commitment to public service. ‘We should not forget the mission of the institution as related to the athletic department. My hope is that in the future, people will remember the significant role that we in athletics can play in the public service outreach of the institution. We galvanize, we bring together alums via athletic success in a way that nothing else does. There’s no other vehicle that can draw 18,411 people into a building with a common purpose. There’s nothing quite like that esprit de corps, that camaraderie, that develops among people who share those goals. I hope we can continue to build on that and use it as a springboard to increase alumni involvement or to encourage current high school students to attend Saint Louis University.†Yow is not stranger to outreach. She makes 40 to 50 speeches a year to local clubs, schools and charity events. And that outreach often goes beyond the confines of St. Louis. Yow cited a recent example. “I’m in Florida last week for a meeting, and I had a name tag on that said, ‘Debbie Yow, Saint Louis University.’ The bellhop on the elevator said, ‘Saint Louis University?’ I said, ‘Yes’ and he said, “The Billikens. You had a great basketball season.’ And I thought, ‘My goodness, how did this bellhop in Florida who looked about 20 years old know anything about the Billikens?’ “Does he know anything else about the university? Probably not. But he knows we had a great basketball season. Now you use that as a springboard to tell him more. Since he knows that, let’s tell him about the Health Sciences Center, about Arts and Sciences, about other things that many people don’t know about.†Better than anyone, Yow knows how important athletics can be. “Were the most visible part of the University, there’s no question. Dean smith, the basketball coach at the University of North Carolina, refers to athletics as a front porch to a house, the house being the university. A front porch can give a house curb appeal, and athletics can serve the same purpose. That is: People pass by the house, and if they like the way the front porch looks, they’re much more likely to come inside and look the substance of the house. Conversely, if they don’t like the way it looks, they may never get interested. We’ve found that analogy to be true, especially in this last year with the men’s basketball program.†All of that interest has brought its share of media attention. When she first arrived in St. Louis the department’s growing pains met with some harsh press, with Yow often singled out as the bad guy. But she said early negative columns and commentaries did not get her down. “I didn’t think about it because it’s not an issue in my life. If it were an issue for anybody else, that’s their problem. I refused to allow it to infringe upon my opportunities and my ability to work. I always say to people that leadership is not a gender issue. Unfortunately, I do think that, in some people’s minds, leadership is a gender issue. It took a little bit longer for some people to adjust and accept me as their athletic director. But it was not large numbers of people—I’ve never felt it was large numbers. I only felt that the ones who had difficulty accepting me were vocal.†With the recent successes of the athletic department, the media ride has turned, and the raves are pouring in. Although she says she doesn’t let the press affect her either way, she does at least notice what is being said. “One day I would be referred to as Alice in Wonderland and the next day as Darth Vader. I’m not Alice in Wonderland, and I’m not Darth Vader. I’m just a business person.†“From a social perspective, women have been cast in roles that are relationship-oriented, so when you are direct, but firm and hopefully fair, it is still sometimes difficult for some people to accept. You’re not supposed to be direct, you’re not supposed to be that firm. You should be trying to figure out ways to please.†Yet at the University, Yow seems to have “pleasing†down to a science. She works closely with Dan Carey, vice president for student development, and university President Lawrence Biondi, SJ, and describes both in glowing terms. “Dan has been extremely supportive in the last two years,†she said. Do these administrators share her vision? “I think my goals have come to be important to them. I think there’s always a degree of persuasion, if you will, or enlargement of the vision. Fr. Biondi articulated before that he wanted to have a top 50 men’s basketball program. I think that what I was able to bring to the scene was the realism of what it would take to achieve that.†In fact, the vision has expanded. “There may or may not be something on the horizon for facilities. Of course it’s a long-range dream of Fr. Biondi’s to have an on-campus facility, not just for athletics. So I like to think about that as a possibility because I think it would serve the University well.†Whether media attention or administrative wish-listing, Yow keeps and open mind, an open ear and an open office. “Do the hours get a little wearisome? Yes, sometimes. But it comes with the turf. You accept that when you go into the business.†Ah, yes, the business. Yow has found that the business can be quite demanding. “It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked. It’s been gratifying. But basically I have given up a lot of what I used to do personally. My passion is this job, and it has clearly been that way for four years.†“But I don’t make any apologies for being focused on the work, or for saying it’s my passion because I don’t think people achieve a lot unless there is a passion for what they do.†Yow’s work is a self-described “labor of Love.†“I’ve really enjoyed working here. I’ve talked so much about the hours, but as I talk about the hours I’m usually smiling. It’s OK. It’s my choice. No one was beating me about the head and shoulders saying, ‘Get back over there tonight and do some more work.’ I wanted to that. I chose to do that. It’s been worth every moment of time and energy.†But what does that leave for down time? Not much as it turns out. “I walk on the treadmill almost everyday in front of the TV with the channel clicker in hand. If I’m home in time, I’ll watch The McNeil-Lehrer News Hour. But most of the time I’m not there in time for that, or I’ll watch something that my husband considers trashy. I’ll watch Entertainment Tonight, I’ll watch Roseanne, Bill would prefer that we watch something more educational on Public TV. And I’ll do that too, but sometimes I just say to him, ‘I want to zone out. I don’t want to watch anything educational. I’m on the treadmill here, that’s good enough. I’m getting exercise, I deserve to watch Mary Hart.’ He’ll take that until I get to Hard Copy or something, and then it’s over.†Yow also makes time for church and her husband of 10 years, William W. Bowden. “He’s the best,†Yow said. Bowden runs a higher education accreditation consulting business and is no stranger to academia. He was a professor and administrator at Oral Roberts University for 20 years and an administrator at the University of Florida. â€He’s a very self-assured man, so he’s done a lot of the things he’s wanted to do in his life, and he’s not threatened in any way by what I do. He was an athlete, so he enjoys athletics himself. I’ve been very blessed.†Blessed personally and professionally. Among other things, Yow is the first woman asked to serve a full four-year term on the national Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) board. But NACDA isn’t the only acronym to come calling. Yow also serves on the NCAA Council, the board of directors for the NCAA. Making strides for women is nothing new to Yow. She was the fourth woman hired as an athletic director at an NCAA Division I School. How women head programs at the University of Washington, and Michigan State. Despite the progress, Yow thinks that natural barriers still exist. “It’s one of the toughest businesses in the country because it’s so male dominated. This is athletics. You have female doctors, female attorneys, female judges across the country. But how many female athletic directors are there? There are 10 out of 301 Division I schools. We just got into double figures, and there’s not going to be a run anytime soon on large numbers of women being hired as female AD’s.†But winning makes it all worthwhile. “During the past basketball season I had so many people come up to me and say, ‘You don’t know how many decades we have waited for this to happen, for this to be this way again.’ They remember the good ‘old days.’ And boy, I keep using the word gratifying, but I can’t think of anything better—it was gratifying, having them say those things and seeing the smiles and joy on their faces. They were just so happy.†And that’s the best part of her job. “The fun part is winning and watching the kids graduate. The hardest part is wearing two hats. One hat says higher education on it, and the other hat says business and big bucks.†“So on the same day, I might find myself talking to a group of professors on campus about graduation rates for student athletes, and they will tell me that they perceive that to be a benchmark of success for the athletic program. And on the very same day, I might speak to a downtown business group where people tell me that they consider the benchmark of a successful program is revenue generated and wins achieved.†Yow balances the two sides as well as possible, always keeping an eye on the bigger picture: What’s best for her 250 athletes. But that can be a lot of work. ‘In god’s grace and wisdom, he just didn’t let me know how much there was to do here, otherwise it might have scared me away from the job,†Yow said. Ah, so it is true, god really does care about her work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted July 25, 2003 Share Posted July 25, 2003 Great article, and great post. Lobo, did you find that on the Internet? If so, would you please give me a link? I'd like to save that with its original trappings, if possible, rather than copying and pasting it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted July 26, 2003 Author Share Posted July 26, 2003 Thicks, The article appeared in Universitas in 1994 and I got a copy from the author and had it scanned into my computer. You can contact the author, Laura Griser at [email protected] and maybe she could provide a link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lobo Posted July 26, 2003 Author Share Posted July 26, 2003 Thicks, I would be happy to e-mail the article to you if that would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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