Harvard to Celebrate 25 Years of Ivy League Women's Athletics

The University will kick off a celebration this weekend recognizing 25 years of Ivy League women's athletic championships with the event Milestones.

The daylong event, on Saturday, Sept. 26, will include panels and round-table discussions on the issues facing women's athletics, feature varsity contests in volleyball, field hockey, and soccer, and finish with a banquet honoring those selected to Harvard's Silver Anniversary Team and the Ivy League's Silver Anniversary Honor Roll.

Many Harvard standouts, both past and present, will be part of the Milestones celebration as panelists and moderators. Among those scheduled to appear are two-time track Olympian Meredith Rainey, who in 1989 became the first Ivy League athlete to win an individual NCAA title, and Allison Feaster, a 1998 first round draft pick of the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks. In addition, several Harvard and Ivy League administrators will serve on the panels. Admission is $60 for members of the Harvard community; $30 for recent alumnae ('94-'98). For more information, call Stephanie Katz, 496-1180.

The Silver Anniversary exhibit, an 8' x 17' two-sided photographic mural that traces the history of Ivy League women's athletics and honors the finest athletes and teams of the past 25 years, will be on display and open for public viewing at the Murr Center through the second week in October.

Schedule of Events -- Saturday, Sept. 26

9:30 a.m. Registration and Coffee (Murr Center)

10 a.m. Welcome -- Harry R. Lewis, Dean of Harvard College (Palmer Dixon Courts)

10:15 a.m. Panel: The State of College Athletics -- Debbie Goldfine, Chair of Harvard-Radcliffe Foundation for Women's Athletics, moderator; Jeff Orleans, executive director of the Ivy League -- "The Ivy League in Context"; Bill Cleary, director of Harvard Athletics -- "The Harvard Experience"; Marlyn Lewis, director of Admissions at Harvard & Radcliffe -- "Admissions and Recruiting"; Janet Judge, sports law attorney -- "Title IX"; Allison Feaster, Los Angeles Sparks -- "The Professional Experience"; Emily Stauffer, captain of Harvard Women's Soccer -- "The Student Perspective" (Murr Center)

Noon Lunch & Roundtable Discussions -- Topics: Specialization; Health issues for the active woman; How can Harvard Athletics maintain its current success?; Compliance issues for alumnae; The recruiting game; Meet the Olympians; Volunteerism -- Giving back to the community; Parents dealing with athletic kids; The Professionalism of Ivy League Athletics; Life in the '90s -- A student-athlete perspective; Do you feel like a target? You are: marketing to women. (Palmer Dixon Courts)

11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Athletic Contests

Volleyball vs. Manhattan -- 11:30 a.m

Field Hockey vs. Yale -- 1 p.m.

Soccer vs. Yale -- 2:30 p.m.

Volleyball vs. St. John's -- 4:30 p.m.

6-10 p.m. Silver Anniversary Banquet (Palmer Dixon Courts). President Neil L. Rudenstine, welcoming remarks; Patricia Brown, assistant basketball coach and hostess of Harvard's 1998 Women's Hockey Olympians -- "The Olympic Experience"; Judith Richards Hope, Fellow of Harvard College -- "A Silver Anniversary Salute"; Presentation of Silver Anniversary Teams

TIMELINE: Women's Athletics At Harvard

May 1974 -- Radcliffe heavyweight crew wins the first official Ivy League women's championship, taking the title at the Eastern Sprints Regatta in Middletown, Conn. The crew will repeat as Ivy and Eastern champs in 1975.

Fall 1974 -- Harvard and Radcliffe merge their athletic departments. Most of the women's teams will compete under the Harvard banner, but rowing and sailing keep the Radcliffe name to honor the roots of their programs.

Winter 1976 -- Alison Muscatine '76, a basketball and tennis player at Harvard, becomes the nation's first female letter-winner to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. Her roommate, Denise Thal '77, receives a Rhodes one year later.

November 11, 1977 -- Harvard wins the first Ivy League championship in women's cross country. Among the harriers is Judy Rabinowitz '80, who becomes a world-class cross country skier and competes for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team.

Fall 1978 -- Without a women's team to play on, Leslie E. Greis '80, earns a spot on Harvard's men's golf squad and goes on to receive three varsity letters. She wins the 1979 Massachusetts women's intercollegiate title.

November 1978 -- The Harvard women's soccer teams captures the sport's first Ivy League championship by defeating Brown in the title game. The Crimson wins the Ivy title again in 1979.

March 1, 1980 -- Darlene Beckford '83 sets a national collegiate record in the mile with her time of 4:32.3 at the Eastern Championships.

Summer 1980 -- Ellen M. Hart '80 becomes Harvard's first female track Olympian. Her third-place showing in the 10,000 meters at the Trials earns her a spot on the Olympic team that doesn't compete in Moscow because of the U.S. boycott.

August 28, 1982 -- Former swimming captain Sharon Beckman '80 becomes the first New England woman to conquer the English Channel. She crosses from the White Cliffs of Dover, England, to Cap Gris Nez, France, in 9 hours, 16 minutes.

October 1984 -- Kate Wiley '85 becomes the first (and remains the only) three-time winner of the Heptagonal Cross Country Championships.

February 1984 -- Bonnie St. John '86 wins two bronze medals -- in the slalom and giant slalom as a member of the U.S. Handicapped Olympic Ski Team and receives a silver medal for her overall ranking as the second-fastest female handicapped skier in the world. Two years later, St. John receives a Rhodes Scholarship.

May 17, 1987 -- Radcliffe's heavyweight crew completes an undefeated spring with a victory at the Eastern Sprints, earning them the title of Ivy Champions as well. Six of the boat's eight rowers go on to compete in future Olympic Games.

May 15, 1988 -- Harvard sophomore Charlotte Joslin '90 becomes the first Ivy League female athlete to be named First Team All-Ivy in three unrelated sports. She earns the honors in field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse.

Summer 1989 -- Radcliffe heavyweight crew competes at the women's Henley Regatta in England, where it wins the Open Eight Championship.

June 2, 1989 -- Meredith Rainey '90 becomes the first female in Ivy League history to win an NCAA individual title in any sport. She runs a school-record time of 2:03:90 to capture the 800 meters at the Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

May 15, 1990 -- National Champions! Harvard women's lacrosse wins the NCAA title with a come-from-behind 8-7 victory over Maryland, to complete a15-0 season.

November 1995 --With Ivy League Player of the Year and All-American Emily Stauffer '99 showing the way, Harvard women's soccer wins its first of three straight Ivy League championships. In 1997, the Crimson advances to the NCAA quarterfinals before falling to eventual national champion North Carolina 1-0.

February 1997 -- Harvard women's squash goes undefeated and captures its sixth consecutive national championship.

February 1998 -- Harvard is well-represented on the gold medal- winning U.S. women's ice hockey team. Sandra Whyte '92 and A.J. Mleczko '97 are the stars on the ice, while Ben Smith '68 is the brains behind the bench as the team's head coach.

March 7, 1998 -- Women's basketball standout Allison Feaster becomes the first Ivy athlete in any sport (men's or women's) to win the League's Rookie of the Year award, then be named Player of the Year three straight seasons.

March 14, 1998 -- The Harvard women's basketball team makes history at the NCAAs by becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a top seed in either the men's or women's tournament. The Crimson stuns Stanford, 71-67, at Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal's home court.