WOMEN IN CHARGE OF CSUN ATHLETICS DULL'S DEPARTURE LEAVES LUCAS AS BOSS.Byline: Vincent Bonsignore Staff Writer When Cal State Northridge appointed Janet Lucas interim athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Thursday, replacing the reassigned Dick Dull, the school joined 19 other Division I universities entrusting their athletic department to women. It's another progressive step in the name of gender equity in college sports. There are 326 Division I programs, so the size of that step is debatable. ``It's getting better - slowly perhaps, but it's getting better,'' said Arizona State athletic director Lisa Love Lisa Love (born January 10, 1955 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is the Senior West Coast Editor of Vogue, Teen Vogue, Men's Vogue and Vogue Living magazines. . ``And anytime someone's promotion is dictated solely by their qualifications and what they bring to the job, it's a healthy day.'' Lucas' promotion means the three top positions in the CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge athletic department are filled by women. Lucas joins associate athletic director Ashlie Kite and assistant athletic director/student services Janet Pinneau to form the school's sports hierarchy. The only man in the department is Kevin Zihlman, who was hired two weeks ago as the director of compliance. ``It's unusual,'' said Matadors men's basketball coach Bobby Braswell Bobby Braswell, an American basketball coach, is currently the head coach for Cal State Northridge. Braswell was named the fourth head coach in Northridge history on April 30, 1996, succeeding the retired Pete Cassidy. . ``But it doesn't matter to me, if the person's qualified.'' Lucas has been at CSUN since June 2004, brought in from James Madison University “JMU” redirects here. For the university in Liverpool, England, see Liverpool John Moores University. For the public-policy college at Michigan State University, see . in Harrisonburg, Va., as senior associate athletic director, the No. 2 position under Dull. Dull moved to a fundraising position, and a national search for a full-time successor is set to begin in January. Lucas, who followed school president Jolene Koester Jolene Koester is the president of California State University, Northridge. The California State University Board of Trustees announced her appointment as president on November 16, 1999, and she took office as the fourth president of the University on July 1, 2000. to CSUN from JMU JMU James Madison University JMU JMTK Utilities Segment , is considered a strong candidate to succeed Dull on a more permanent basis. Terry Davila, who coaches the men's and women's soccer teams at CSUN, welcomes Lucas' appointment. Davila was raised by his mother and grandmother, so he doesn't anticipate an adjustment to working for a department run by women. ``I'm not someone who looks at gender,'' he said. ``To me, you're either qualified or your not. You're either a leader or you're not. And the (women) we have in place are most definitely leaders.'' Vincent Bonsignore, (818) 713-3612 vincent.bonsignore(at)dailynews.com |
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