October 05, 2016

Charlotte West to discuss ‘The Power of Title IX’

by Christi Mathis

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Longtime women’s college athletics coach, administrator, official and Title IX proponent Charlotte West will be the guest speaker at the Emeritus Faculty Lecture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale later this month.

West will speak about “The Power of Title IX” at 7 p.m. on Oct. 25 in Tedrick Auditorium, Room 189 in the Boydston Center, which is adjacent to the SIU Arena.  There is no cost to attend the Emeritus Faculty Organization presentation and the public is welcome.

West’s collegiate athletics career spanned more than four decades. A 2014 inductee into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, West was a member of the SIU Hall of Fame class of 1982 and inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2005. SIU’S softball stadium bears her name as does a room in the NCAA national office building in Indianapolis. She is the inaugural recipient of the Honda Award, a national honor recognizing outstanding achievement in women’s collegiate athletics, and also won the first Woman Administrator of the Year award from the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators.

West was a physical education faculty member at SIU and coached five different sports (basketball, golf, softball, volleyball and badminton) between 1957 and 1975, becoming the first women’s basketball coach for the university as she compiled a 113-51 record. She also led the women’s golf team to a national championship and was a nationally rated sports official in four sports.

West went on to serve more than a decade as SIU’s women’s athletic director and then associate athletics director for the combined men’s and women’s athletic departments for many more years before retiring in 1998. Her tenure also included 10 months as acting director of athletics during her final year at the university.

She mentored many female athletes, was an advocate for Title IX, and served a number of national roles in women’s athletics. She was the first female member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and served as president of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and as a member of the US Olympic Committee in 1978. In addition, she served on the NCAA Council and on various committees within the NCAA and the Missouri Valley Conference.

West’s undergraduate studies in math and physical education were completed at Florida State University. She earned a master’s degree in physical education and dance from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a doctorate in physical education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For more information about West’s presentation, email Carolyn Snyder at csnyder@siu.edu