Following Mike Bellotti’s resignation, University President Richard Lariviere appointed Lorraine Davis interim athletic director on a month-to-month basis until a national search yields a permanent director. The Emerald sat down with Davis to discuss her academic experience, her work with student-athletes and her track record of being the first woman to fill administrative positions.
LD: I’ve been at the University of Oregon really since 1969. I started as a student and GTF and got my Ph.D. in 1972.
ODE: Where did you grow up?
LD: I grew up in Wisconsin. I worked on a farm through school, doing whatever needed to be done to get the job done. I got my bachelor’s at the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse in mathematics and physical education.
ODE: That’s an odd combination. Why those two?
LD: (Laughs) Well, I was good in math, and I love math as a subject. I wanted to teach math. But I’ve always been very physically active, and we didn’t have women’s sports available then at all, and I knew I was good at it, so I took that major up as well. So I got my teaching certificate in both mathematics and physical education, but then the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse hired me as a GTF. I was the first woman GTF in the physical education department. Then I got my master’s in health and physical education because they wanted me to begin a student recreation program that had not been run. So I did that, and I taught there for two years and did some coaching there.
ODE: What did you coach?
LD: I coached track and field there and did officiating basketball and track and field.
ODE: Why did you come to the Pacific Northwest and the University of Oregon?
LD: I got married, and my husband was going to be a graduate at the University of Oregon …  I was actually offered a job at Lane Community College, but at the same time I was offered a graduate teaching fellowship at the University of Oregon in the health education department. So I took the one at the University of Oregon because I felt in the long run, going for my Ph.D. would be a better avenue for me, and it was something that I was interested in.
ODE: What positions did you hold as a University faculty member?
LD: As it turned out, there was a need, at least on a interim basis, for teaching some of the courses that I had specific competence in, and eventually I applied for a full-time job and I got on a tenure-track position … as an assistant professor, and then I worked my way on up through the ranks as an associate professor and then a full professor and then department chair. I had a lot of students from education, anthropology, speech, health education. That was probably the most exciting part of my career, was teaching. I’ve served on the Senate a number of times; I was on the curriculum committee; I was on just about every committee at the institution. And then when there was a position for vice provost of academic personnel that came up, I was nominated for the position and I thought, “Hm, well, OK; I’ll apply.” I got that position in 1990. Then I became vice provost for academic affairs, senior vice provost for academic affairs, and then vice president of academic affairs. I was the first woman vice president of academic affairs at the University.
ODE: How did that feel, when you became the first woman vice president of academic affairs?
LD: Well, because I had kind of worked my way up … You know, I’m one of those people where if a door opens, at least look around the corner and look through it, and go “Yeah, I can give this a whirl.” I’m always intrigued by challenges; I had never set myself up to be something that nobody else has been — that’s not what I’m about. It’s about providing a service, an education, and particularly in public higher education, I find fulfilling because of what you can accomplish for other people, particularly for other students. The best years of my life were as a professor teaching statistics and graduate research, no question about it.
ODE: What have you done for the University since your retirement from the vice presidency?
LD: I’m a special assistant to the president and provost, and have been and will continue in that role.  (It’s for) the Support Services for Student Athletes, that unit at the University that operates out of Academic Affairs because it’s about the academic support for the athletes. They asked me to continue in that liaison role as a special assistant to the president and the provost after I stepped down from vice president, to remain the person from central administration that Support Services for Student Athletes reported to. I’ve chaired a couple of search committees, I’ve been involved with some inquiries related to some personnel matters, been involved in looking into curriculum issues as they have come up. I’m currently chairing the provost for enrollment management position and have candidates on campus today because of that.
ODE: How have you been involved with athletes?
LD: I’ve also been involved with the accreditation. And one of the pieces that the NCAA requires is that there are support services for student athletes directly, and it’s pretty well spelled out what you need to provide if you’re going to be a Division 1 institution. When the NCAA accredits an institution, there is a process which happens every 10 years. I’ve been involved in two of those accreditations, and one of them was just done five years ago that I was directly involved in. The Support Services for Student Athletes staff does (recruit athletes) as academic advisors, but sometimes I also speak to them or their parents at recruitment breakfasts and just provide a profile of the University from an administrator’s perspective, from someone who has been around for a while, saying “Here’s what we’re all about.”
ODE: Why did University President Richard Lariviere approach you to become the new interim athletic director?
LD: Well, I think because of my history with the institution. I have administrative experience, and even though it’s not directly in the athletic department, I know enough about the athletic department and how the athletic department functions … I think my calming presence will be useful in the transitional time. As we know, there has been a lot of tumultuous issues in the athletic department … I hope that my presence and my leadership can at least be beneficial to the athletes, the institution, and the athletic department.
ODE: So how does it feel to be the first female athletic director?
LD: I have never really strived to be the first of anything. If it is, it is. I stepped forward to do what I think I can do, what people have confidence in my ability to do, and if I’m the first female, then fine. If I’m not, that’s OK, too. It’s not that big of a deal to me; it might be to others, but not to me. I happen to be available at this point in time, and the president expressed his confidence in my ability to do this and asked me to step forward to do it.
ODE: What kind of contributions would you like to make to the athletic department during your shorter-than-most tenure?
LD: (Laughs) I would like to be there as a presence, to be kind of a solid leader, to provide leadership and guidance in a way for them in order to function at a maximum level even though there is a transition right now. So I’ll be there to listen, I’ll be there to try to assist, certainly perhaps make some decisions about some things that hopefully will be helpful, but I don’t have a real agenda other than to be there as a leader and as an administrator and to help people work together to move f
orward in a positive way.
ODE: What would you like University students to know about yourself?
LD: That my first priority in regard to whatever position I have been in has been for the students. I mean, the University is about students and to create a situation and an atmosphere conducive to good academic learning that we can all be proud of so we can continue to be proud of the University. I want the athletic department to be viewed as an entity on campus that we can be proud of and that can represent the University in a
positive way.