A.D. Candidate Says Uo Taking Her Seriously

Eve Atkinson, the only woman finalist in Oregon’s search for a new athletic director, says she’s been assured her candidacy isn’t a token gesture.

Atkinson, athletic director at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., toured the Oregon campus Monday. She was the first of four finalists for the job to visit the school.

Oregon has been without a fulltime A.D. since Bill Byrne left for Nebraska 31 months ago.

Atkinson said she didn’t think she was included in the final four just to make it a more diverse group.

“I’ve addressed it up front because I’m far too busy and I’ve asked them to do some soulsearching and I’ve asked them to save my time and their time,” she said.

“If this is strictly an issue of being a token woman being looked at for the position because of some affirmative action form that needs to be filled out, let’s save all of us some time. They have assured me that is not the situation, and I have no other reason than to believe them.”

When Atkinson was named athletic director at Lafayette five years ago, she was the first woman to lead a coed athletic program that included I-AA or higher football.

She said there are fewer than 10 women guiding coed programs today, and fewer than five with I-AA or higher football squads. Lafayette, which has 2,000 students, plays 1-AA football.

Of the four remaining candidates for the Oregon job, only one, Fresno State athletic director Gary Cunningham, has experience guiding a program with a Division I-A football program - the highest collegiate level.