John Shearer: A Diary Of The Lady Vols Protest Rally

  • Sunday, December 21, 2014
  • John Shearer
On Saturday morning, I watched the Knoxville rally held by fans and former athletes of the University of Tennessee women’s sports teams.
 
It was not a pep rally to fire up the Lady Vols for the basketball game against Stanford two hours later. They apparently did not need one of those, based on the way they defeated the weaker-than-normal Cardinal, 59-40.
 
This rally – held at Pat Summitt Plaza and in the shadow of the tall statue dedicated in 2013 in honor of the beloved coach who retired earlier than she likely wanted due to Alzheimer’s Disease – was actually to protest the university.
 
Or should we say they do not like the university athletic administration’s plan to eliminate the use of the Lady Vols’ nickname from all sports teams except women’s basketball beginning next year.
 
Somehow I suspect that a protest site was not what UT officials envisioned for Pat Summitt Plaza when the small gathering area across Phillip Fulmer Way from Thompson-Boling Arena was being planned.
 
I will not attempt to offer my opinion on whether the Lady Vols’ name should be dropped or retained, but I will say that I found the protest quite intense.
A number of people obviously do not want the name changed.
 
In fact, I found their determination and sense of purpose not that much different from the resilience shown by past great Lady Vols teams in a variety of sports.
 
When I arrived shortly before the event was to start, several people in Lady Vols garb were standing around ready to express their frustrations. A few already were speaking out in the form of signs they were holding up that had sayings like “Lady Vols for all” and “Fire Dave Hartless,” a reference to UT athletics director Dave Hart.
 
I introduced myself to Mollie DeLozier, a former UT swimmer from the early 1970s, who was organizing the event. After she reminded me, I quickly recognized her as one of the swimming officials with whom I have talked while covering youth swim meets in Knoxville.
 
She had plenty of comments about her disgust over the university’s plans to use the Power T as the official logo for a number of women’s sports.           
 
“The Power T, that’s a football formation. That makes no sense,” she said.
 
As I was waiting for the official program to start, I also began conversing with 1985 UT alumna and longtime Lady Vol fan Raubyn Branton. She was another organizer and has been leading efforts through social media and other areas to protest the name change plans. As I talked with her, she almost sounded like she was prepping for a big Lady Vols game as a player.
 
“If I look Pat Summit in the eye and can’t tell her I did my best, then I haven’t done my best,” she said with enthusiastic sincerity.
 
Shortly before the program began, I noticed that former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree was there, obviously in support of the protesters. So was a man in a suit, who I later learned was Tennessee State Rep. Roger Kane from Knox County.
 
His daughter was former UT javelin thrower Holly Kane Douglas, and he would tell the crowd he thought the name change was wrong on so many levels. He even invited the protesters to come to Nashville, and he would get them an audience with Gov. Bill Haslam and fellow Tennessee General Assembly members to express their concerns.
 
Before he talked, two or three organizers and speakers – including Dr. Sharon Lord, who helped usher the UT women’s sports program into the modern era in the 1970s as a professor – told the protesters to be persistent with their voices, letters and emails.
 
They and some others also mentioned whom to contact to voice their frustrations – UT President Dr. Joe DiPietro, the UT board of trustees, and even Nike, which has the UT apparel official license contract beginning next year.
 
Also during the nearly hour-long gathering were rehearsed cheers of “Lady Vols,” followed by “all sports.” One or two people also added a “forever” at the end.
 
The gathering in many ways reminded me of the atmosphere of a city or county commission meeting, where neighborhood people band together to protest a planned new development that they believe would damage their quality of life.
 
But what resonated with me the most in terms of how deep the name change plans have hurt people was when about five or six former Lady Vols in a variety of sports were called forward.
 
One of them was Shelley Sexton Collier, the point guard on the first Lady Vols national championship team under coach Summitt in 1987. A graduate of nearby Anderson County High School, she was admittedly not planning on speaking.
 
But when she was handed the bullhorn, she began talking away.
 
“I love the University of Tennessee and I will always support the University of Tennessee, but I’m standing here feeling so disappointed and hurt,” the current Knoxville Webb School coach said, admitting that talking was emotional for her.
 
“I know a number of former Lady Vols in different sports, and I know they are disappointed and hurt like I am.”
 
The high school coach of recent Lady Vol standout Glory Johnson went on to say that she thinks coach Summitt and retired UT women’s athletic directors Joan Cronan and Gloria Ray are sad as well.
 
“I love those three ladies and I can’t imagine what they feel right now. I know they must be hurt,” she said.
 
Also catching my attention was the fact that longtime former UT women’s basketball media relations representative Debby Jennings also spoke after being pulled out of the crowd by Ms. Branton. She had recently settled a lawsuit over her 2012 departure from the university, so I am always surprised when anyone talks publicly after settling a legal matter out of court.
 
But she just talked in generic terms of what the Lady Vols brand means, giving the roughly 100 fans, alumni and former athletes some proverbial food for fodder.
 
“It warms my heart to see all of you out here,” she said. “Lady Vols is a lifestyle and over 2,000 women since 1976 have been honored to be a part of this lifestyle and they came to UT because it stood for something.”
 
Former UT women’s soccer star Laura Lauter Smith also spoke, saying that the Lady Vols name was not just about basketball and that all the different Lady Vols sports teams supported each other. As evidence, she pointed out that coach Summitt was there when she broke the UT scoring record and presented her with the game ball afterward.
 
A lighter moment during the rally occurred when Tennessee women’s basketball assistant coach Dean Lockwood walked by on his way to the arena before the game, and the crowd began chanting his name. Without saying anything, he waved his fist in the air and smiled.
 
But most of the rally had an air of distress over the fact that at least these Lady Vols fans are not happy about the planned name changes.
 
Who knows? Maybe the UT officials – none of whom apparently watched the rally -- will reverse their decision and conclude that they made a mistake and underestimated the passion people have for the Lady Vols name and brand.
 
Or maybe the UT leadership will maintain their intentions to drop the name from all women’s teams except basketball and will assume the opposition will wane.
 
But Saturday morning at Pat Summitt Plaza, no sign of waning opposition was apparent.
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net
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