This is Marygrace Colby the first women director of athletics as of September of 1963. Although she did not start teaching till two years after coeducation started at santa clara. She took the one-forth of women in the school and started athletic teams for women. This is a big deal for my archival research because I believe as much as men wanted to enforce this coed athletics they needed a women to really take a stand and make this happen for the university. And this is what she made happen.
“When you pull on that jersey, you represent yourself and your teammates. And the name on the front is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back”
Through intramural sports and intercollegiate teams women found a new way to express themselves. As women started to be recognized in the academics there were now allowed to be acknowledged athletically. If I were them at this time i would be proud to be apart of such a big contribution to Santa Clara University. This is why this is so important for women to be able to play sports because they can show their overall ability and represents their name on the front of their jersey.
This was a huge step for women at santa clara to be able to play sports because this led to a big community of women to come together. All around every team found more and more girls who had something in common and it was to play sports. Then when you meet other sports you become one big community. Later this community becomes more than just women playing sports but something to be proud of. Year after year girls you meet girls who graduate and people know other people and they all spread the love for sports. Every women in this college represents santa clara university and we are one big community that will live on forever thanks to Marygrace Colby.