Remembering Dr. Christine Grant: Women’s sports pioneer and Title IX champion

IOWA CITY, Iowa — With her body failing but her mind still as sharp as a Scottish claymore, Dr. Christine Grant left one final directive with two of her favorite proteges.

It was two weeks shy of Dr. Grant’s passing on Dec. 31, 2021, when Iowa field hockey coach Lisa Cellucci and Iowa women’s tennis coach Sasha Schmid met for the final time with Title IX’s staunchest defender. Dr. Grant’s message belied her struggles to catch her breath in hospice care. She was unquivering and frank, like everything she had delivered in her 85 years.

The coaches asked about how she wanted to be remembered. Dr. Grant summed it up in one word: Persist.

“It was about a call to action for continuing education,” Schmid said. “We feel such a responsibility to really do our best to carry on a mission that she would be proud of.”

“Somebody has to help fill the shoes,” Cellucci said. “I think she knows we meant business, and we told her we would do our best. And we’re trying to do that.”

Sunday in Iowa City, friends and admirers will enter Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the nation’s first equal opportunity athletic building, for a memorial celebrating Dr. Grant. There’s a reason why honorifics are applied unevenly. Some people seem too big for just a first name, and Dr. Grant fits in that territory. Once in a while, someone refers to this Title IX titan by her first name, they quickly revert to Dr. Grant.

“She always wanted us to call her Christine,” Cellucci said. “And I could never do it because it just didn’t feel right. But she would get so mad.”

Dr. Grant was born in Bo’ness, Scotland in 1936 and her thick, Scottish brogue remained both an introduction and the one aspect her pupils still mimic with a chuckle. Her background consisted of teaching and coaching both in Scotland and Canada, where she served as the national field hockey coach. In 1969, she earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. A year later, she gained her master’s degree, also at Iowa. Four years later, she completed her Ph.D. in physical education with an emphasis in administration at the university.

In 1973, one year after Title IX was enacted, Dr. Grant became Iowa’s first women’s athletics director. Her budget was $3,000. Many universities were unwilling or unsure how to comply with Title IX. At Drake University, women’s athletics director Betty Werner called athletic scholarships “buying bodies.” Dr. Grant called the lack of women’s athletic scholarships “discrimination.”

But Dr. Grant found a willing partner in the University of Iowa, which in 1855 became the first state university in the United States to admit men and women on an equal basis. President Willard “Sandy” Boyd and men’s athletics director Bump Elliott chose to work with Dr. Grant and in 1974-75, they boosted 11 women’s sports to varsity status before Title IX regulations were enacted. The school increased the women’s athletics budget to $70,000 and in 1975, women’s in-state athletes received 27 scholarships. That number jumped to 60 for 1976 and 80 for 1978, when out-of-state women were given scholarships.

It was an important, historic first step. But it was far from enough. Debates raged about Title IX’s intent, specifically related to sport. That’s when Dr. Grant shifted from advocate to crusader.

A founding member of the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women, Dr. Grant was named an expert consultant to the Health, Education and Welfare Office for Civil Rights Title IX Task Force in 1978. Each week she traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with Congressional members and leaders to discuss and propose policies related to women’s collegiate athletics. That task force recommended guidelines and advocated for equal representation and treatment for all genders.

In 1979, Dr. Grant was elected president of the AIAW, along with her Iowa duties and work on the task force. In 1980, the AIAW battled the NCAA — which was fighting Title IX in court — to keep the male-dominated organization from taking over women’s sports. The AIAW sponsored championships in eight sports, while the NCAA tried to establish national titles in five for lower-division schools. After multiple governance proposals were passed to ensure women received NCAA leadership positions and representation, schools overwhelmingly voted for the NCAA to take over women’s athletics.

As Title IX forced the NCAA to alter its stance, it also helped high school girls’ sports thrive. Before Title IX passed, only 7 percent of high school athletes were girls. Ten years later, it jumped to 35 percent. In 1972, there were 300,000 girls playing high school sports. In 1986, it was 1.8 million.

“That just shows you that women want to be involved,” said Iowa women’s basketball coach Lisa Bluder, one of Dr. Grant’s final hires in 2000. “They want to have athletics if they’re given the opportunity. But before, they weren’t given the opportunity. That’s what she was told so many times, is that women didn’t want to have the opportunity. They didn’t want to compete in sports. And she always would end a sentence, like, ‘Can you believe it?’”

Each year, the University of Iowa increased its women’s athletics budget and the men’s and women’s athletics departments worked as partners. The football program charged entry fees for its spring game, and the income went to the women’s athletics department. The annual Amana VIP golf tournament pledged half of its proceeds toward Grant’s department and at that time, the $66,075 check was the largest contribution by a company directed toward women’s athletics.

Still, Dr. Grant never backed away from the fight for equality everywhere. In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled as long as an athletics program receives no federal financial support, it does not need to comply with Title IX as the amendment was written. Within a year, more than 90 discrimination cases were dropped by the Office of Civil Rights. Grant called women in sports “endangered species.”

Four years later, Congress passed the Civil Rights Restoration Act, which reaffirmed and enhanced Title IX protections against discrimination by university athletics programs. President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill, but it was overridden by Congress.

With considerable backsliding nationally with gender equity, Dr. Grant feared lawsuits and complaints would become prevalent for non-compliance. That’s exactly what happened at Temple, Nebraska, Santa Clara and Washington State.

“It really isn’t even so much in terms of the amounts of money spent,” Dr. Grant told The Des Moines Register in 1988. “Rather, there are colleges who simply don’t provide the same kind of facilities for women to practice and compete as they do their male athletes or academic support.

“There are some schools who have maintained the commitment to equal opportunity like Iowa, but there are others who simply haven’t.”

Dr. Grant, who served as president of the Council of Collegiate Women’s Athletics Administrators, provided testimony in numerous landmark sports discrimination lawsuits. She was flabbergasted by what she witnessed in athletics departments between the Supreme Court’s Grove City decision and the 1988 act.

“University administrators in this day and age would not tolerate having twice as many academic scholarships for male students, yet these same administrators accept this in athletics,” she said. “I cannot understand their acceptance of this situation, nor can I understand why parents of young women do not demand progress.”

As Dr. Grant battled in courtrooms, Iowa became the model women’s athletics department in terms of equity and performance. In 1983, Dr. Grant hired C. Vivian Stringer as the first Black women’s basketball coach in Big Ten history. In her first season, Stringer finished 11-7 in the Big Ten, a nine-game improvement for the program. Then on Feb. 3, 1985, Iowa more than doubled the national record for single-game women’s basketball attendance as 22,157 fans crowded into Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Stringer elevated Iowa women’s basketball to a national power. Dr. Grant’s beloved field hockey program under Judith Davidson won the national title in 1986. Gayle Blevins’ softball program won 948 games and qualified for four Women’s College World Series appearances in her 23 seasons. Stringer ranks third among women’s basketball coaches in victories at four-year schools. Bluder, who was hired six months before Dr. Grant’s retirement, sits eighth overall. Blevins, who retired in 2010, still ranks 15th in softball victories.

That legacy continues today. Bluder’s bunch won the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles and finished third nationally in average attendance. Cellucci’s field hockey squad was ranked first for most of the 2021 fall season. Schmid’s 2021 squad set the school record with 12 Big Ten victories.

A personal touch

For Cellucci, Schmid and Bluder, their introduction to Dr. Grant came during some of their most formative years as women, athletes and coaches. Cellucci, a Philadelphia native, was one of the nation’s top prep field hockey goaltenders. Schmid, the daughter of former San Diego Padres and Oakland A’s manager Steve Boros, played tennis in Southern California. Bluder was one of Iowa’s top six-on-six girls basketball players at Linn-Mar High School, located about 30 miles north of Iowa City.

Cellucci met Dr. Grant on a recruiting trip to Iowa in 1993. She was 17 years old and sat in Dr. Grant’s third-floor office when their conversation shifted to academics. Cellucci attended a Catholic high school and took a political science class that required a term paper. The topic was Title IX.

“She lit up,” Cellucci recalled. “She jumped out of her chair and went to a file cabinet. I’ll never forget it. She pulled out like all of these documents and had her secretary photocopy them and then went through all of it with me and was like, ‘Here you go.’ She handed over all of these important things to me and helped me basically structure how to write this paper. I got an A.”

Two months later, Cellucci committed to Iowa.

Schmid had a family tug of war over collegiate loyalty as a youngster. Her father was a Michigan fan, while her mother cheered for Iowa. Schmid sided with her mother and joined the Iowa tennis program. In her first year, Schmid and other freshmen women athletes took a two-hour seminar from Dr. Grant on Monday nights. The focus was leadership and development skills.

“It was always a really strong educational component with her,” Schmid said. “But I started realizing, ‘Wow, I’ve stumbled onto the University of Iowa, which I loved anyway, but I had no idea what a complete giant I was gaining in terms of my athletic director.’”

Bluder played basketball at Northern Iowa and totaled 1,036 points. One year removed from her final season, she was married and became head coach at NAIA St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa. Over six years, she compiled a 165-36 record with four straight Elite Eight trips, Bluder was 68-3 over her final two seasons and then for Drake in 1990. Midway through her 10-year run, Bluder interviewed with Dr. Grant to discuss Iowa’s opening when Stringer stepped down following her husband’s death. Dr. Grant instead chose Angie Lee.

“Looking back on it now, it was probably the best thing because I was more prepared in 2000, to be the coach here than in 1995,” Bluder said. “It gave me five more years of Division I experience and recruiting.”

As Iowa athletes, Cellucci and Schmid were drawn to Dr. Grant for her presence and her leadership. During her junior year, Schmid rode with Dr. Grant on an I-Club trip and their conversation continued to open her thoughts about athletics and education.

“She really took the time to make sure that I kind of understood all of the different inner workings that were taking place in terms of Title IX and legislation and equal opportunity for girls in sport,” Schmid said. “It really motivated me.”

When Schmid graduated, Dr. Grant wrote letters of recommendation for her to attend law school and for her internships. Schmid was so inspired, she wanted to work at the NCAA. Schmid never could give up coaching, serving as an assistant coach while attending law school and ultimately leaving to become head coach at Stetson (2002) and Missouri (2012) before returning to Iowa in 2016.

Cellucci started at Iowa for four years and was a three-time All-American goalkeeper. She still holds Iowa’s saves record (592). After one year as an assistant at James Madison, Cellucci became one of Dr. Grant’s final official hires when she joined Tracey Griesbaum’s coaching staff in 2000.

Following her retirement, Dr. Grant remained a fixture at Iowa field hockey games. Opposing coaches often asked her to speak and interact with their players.

“One of Dr. Grant’s super strengths was her ability to deliver a message because I think you can turn people off when you’re advocating for something or fighting fiercely for something with how you put things out there,” Cellucci said. “She always built consensus. I think that is such a gift.

“She was more of a change agent than anything, and you just could not help but be captivated by her when she spoke.”

In 2000, Grant needed a new women’s basketball coach, and Bluder again was a candidate. In her final four years at Drake, Bluder led the Bulldogs to three league championships. Eight months pregnant, Bluder conducted her interviews over the phone rather than in person. It didn’t go well, but Dr. Grant saw Bluder’s potential.

“I was too Iowa modest. I just didn’t really talk about myself enough,” Bluder said. “I didn’t feel like it went great. The next day, I thought about it and I called Dr. Grant directly. And I said, ‘Dr. Grant, I don’t think I did a very good job in my interview. I don’t think I sold myself enough.’ And she’s in her Scottish brogue and said, ‘No, Lisa, you didn’t. You need to do that.’ I proceeded to just tell her why she should hire me and, and then I obviously got the job afterward.’”

Dr. Grant remained a mentor and a confidant for Iowa women’s coaches. Never was that needed more than in 2014 when Griesbaum was fired just a week before the season was set to open. Cellucci was Griesbaum’s best friend and was torn whether to remain with her alma mater or leave in protest.

“When everything happened in 2014, obviously it was very shocking,” Cellucci said. “(Dr. Grant) was devastated for sure, and she was really the one who helped me navigate. She asked me to take the job and I was obviously very conflicted at the time. You just don’t say no to Christine Grant.

“Since 2014, we’ve had a lot of conversations, a lot of meetings, lots of time together. I will always cherish her support through all of that, because it wasn’t easy for her, either.”

A few months after her return in 2016, Schmid and her third-grade daughter were grocery shopping when she saw Dr. Grant ahead of her in an aisle.

“I said to my daughter, ‘Lily, I’m about to introduce you to the most spectacular woman,’” Schmid said. “I turned around, and I said, ‘Dr. Grant,’ and she was like, ‘Sasha!’”

An icon

Legacy has a nebulous connotation worthy of introspection. Dr. Grant’s shadow looms so largely that by any definition she is an icon.

At the ground level, her teams won. During her tenure, Iowa women’s athletic department grew to 12 NCAA championship sports that claimed 27 Big Ten titles. But for what she did for women’s sports through Title IX, Dr. Grant has no peer.

“Her legacy to me is sport as we know it today,” Bluder said. “That, to me, is Dr. Grant’s legacy. And so many women are so thankful for that, because it’s all the lessons that you learned from being in sports. It’s health. It’s teaching, passing those lessons on, generation to generation, to your young girls and your young boys.”

Testimonials and accolades followed Dr. Grant. In 2007, she became the fourth recipient of the NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award, which honors an individual who has provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics over the course of their career.

Former NCAA president Myles Brand said, “Christine is a pre-eminent and passionate leader who represents an entire class of pioneers that broke through barriers to the benefit of women’s sports. She and others did the heavy lifting that has afforded college women athletes the opportunities they enjoy today, and her courage and character have made her a role model for today’s student-athletes and athletics administrators alike.”

Also in 2007, Dr. Grant was named one of the 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America by the Institute of International Sport. Dozens of other awards and honors decorate Dr. Grant’s imprint of college athletes.

If there was one recognition that stood highest for Dr. Grant, it was the one Bluder helped provide. In 2013, the Iowa City community approved a massive plan to build several new schools in its district. Bluder recommended one of the elementary schools bear Dr. Grant’s name. Six years later, Christine Grant Elementary opened in North Liberty for $19 million.

At the dedication, Dr. Grant stood alongside an emotional Bluder and associate women’s basketball coach Jan Jensen.

“There’s no award that I have been given or will be given that means more to me than the naming of this school,” Dr. Grant said at the ceremony. “Education is the greatest gift that we can give to the next generations. It’s difficult for me to convey to you how much I’m honored by this recognition.”

“All those kids that are at that school have to learn who Christine Grant was,” Bluder said. “That just keeps her legacy and keeps the movement alive. So, to me, that was an absolute no-brainer.”

During Dr. Grant’s tenure, more than 90 percent of Iowa’s women’s athletes received degrees. Continuing education was her mission late in life when she routinely invited women’s teams to her home during their offseason. Often, the topic was centered around Title IX, and Dr. Grant wanted to serve pies and ice cream.

“I’m like, ‘Dr. Grant, they do not need that,’” Cellucci said. “And she’s like, ‘But everybody pays more attention when they can have something sweet to eat.’”

Schmid and Cellucci regularly joined Dr. Grant for lunch and conversation over her final five years about their teams. Even as Dr. Grant stayed in bed, photos adorned the walls, including the special ones of her former coaches and athletes. Her passion for sports never subsided.

Last fall, with Iowa’s women’s field hockey team setting attendance records, an ambulance was called to take Dr. Grant to the hospital. She refused to leave without a new field hockey T-shirt, so Cellucci brought one over to her home.

In mid-December, Cellucci planned to spend Christmas with her family in Philadelphia. By then, Dr. Grant was in Iowa City’s Bird House for hospice patients. Cellucci and Schmid met with their mentor one last time. They talked about the 50th-anniversary celebration for Title IX and the 50-minute HERky’s Hawk Walk. Then the conversation switched to legacy. The coaches suggested a statue.

“She’s like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no, no,’” Cellucci said. “’I want nothing about myself.’ She talked about just a call to action, continuing education, about Title IX, and about opportunity and equity for women. And how we could just continue to educate men, women, boys, girls about her life’s work. And that’s really what she wanted.”

Bluder joined Dr. Grant a few days later. Their conversation centered more on holiday traditions. For Dr. Grant, who grew up during World War II, Christmas was less of a celebration than New Year’s. After midnight on New Year’s, she told Bluder the first person who came across your threshold had to be dark-haired and have something good to drink.

Dr. Grant passed on Dec. 31. Bluder remembered their final conversation a week earlier and lifted a glass in her mentor’s memory.

“She died on New Year’s Eve, so we had to have Scotch,” Bluder said. “I don’t even like it, but I had it.”

Women everywhere will commemorate Title IX in the coming weeks. For many, it’s a celebration. For others, it’s reminder of inequity. At Iowa, it serves as a call to action in Dr. Grant’s memory.

“It’s a time to really galvanize momentum and make sure that we’re moving ahead in a way that I think really does honor our legendary paths,” Schmid said. “There are Title IX celebrations at all women’s athletics departments throughout the nation this year. No other athletic department can claim Dr. Grant and the trailblazer she was in their Title IX celebration weekend. It’s such an incredible source of pride.”

The annual FryFest that kicks off football season will feature Grant and Iowa’s Title IX icons. It’s a way to build awareness for an overlooked figure in football-dominated Iowa City and highlight her accomplishments. More than anything, it renews the focus of what Grant wanted most of all.

“Every time, even up until the very last visit that I had with her, she would always give me a big hug at the end and tell me how proud she was,” Cellucci said, “but she would always whisper in my ear, ‘Just keep persisting, keep persisting.’”

(Top photo of Dr. Christine Grant (center) with Jan Jensen (left) and Lisa Bluder courtesy of hawkeyesports.com)