By Martha B. Walker

On Nov. 3, a pioneer of women’s athletics, Gwendolyn Baker, passed away at the age of 84. Gwen was one of the first female athletic directors in the United States of a co-ed college or university. She served Shippensburg University in that capacity for 10 years in the 1970s when women athletes were still struggling for funds, practice space, and time and recognition.

She also was instrumental in the creation and development of a strong athletic program for women at the university, both as an effective administrator and a successful coach of field hockey and basketball.

Her oversight of the women’s athletic program spanned almost two decades of superior leadership. After her retirement from the university, she continued to be involved in the university’s promotion of women’s athletics and with the greater Shippensburg community, her church, the Park and Recreation Association, the Lady Raider Golf Tournament, and the school board. She was an honest, direct, smart and no-nonsense person and a woman of good wit and cheer.

I had the pleasure to come to know her years ago in my capacity as a licensed basketball and field hockey official for regional colleges and universities and as her attorney. Among all the coaches for whom I officiated games, she was indeed a rare first-class professional. She always stood for the fact that sports was about team play, self-development, sportsmanship, and that the student athlete was above all a representative of her university.

She commanded the respect and devotion of her athletes, she tolerated no bad behavior on or off the field, and she believed firmly that young students were at school first for a quality education but that athletics played an important role in building a woman’s self-confidence and self-esteem. Her philosophy of coaching is unfortunately missing among many of today’s coaches, both at the college and professional level.

Gwen was a friend and mentor to many students. Her legacy at Shippensburg University is a testament to her perseverance in the face of a pre-Title IX climate that was not always supportive of women athletes. She enhanced the reputation of the university’s women’s sports program in so many ways. Everyone who knew her knows that it was to the glory of her athletes and her university to whom she dedicated her professional career.

We have lost a giant among supporters for women’s athletics and Shippensburg University has lost one of its finest representatives.

To all who knew and loved Gwen, please join me in making a contribution in her memory to the SU Foundation/Gwen Baker Basketball Scholarship Fund, 1871 Old Main Drive, Shippensburg, PA 17257, so that Shippensburg women student athletes can be supported in their academic and athletic endeavors in the future.

Reprinted with permission of the author. Originally appeared in the Chambersburg Public Opinion in November 2007.