Emory

From Union Point to the UAA
by Clyde "Doc" Partin, Sr.

In 1966, I became chair of Emory's athletic department. I've been around here for more than 50 years, and I've learned that while Emory has a rich athletic history, for a long time, its mere existence was unsure.

Eighty years earlier, Emory athletics had begun unceremoniously, in the anonymous Georgia town of Union Point. A collection of students who called themselves a baseball team were soundly trounced, 17-5. These students soon tried their hand again, but fared no better, losing 12-1. Even worse than the losses were the rumors surrounding the team. Whisperings of gambling, brawling, and other unsavory activities at the game led the Board of Trustees to prohibit the baseball team from leaving campus to compete.

This did not, however, preclude teams from coming to Emory, so, in 1891, another game against the University of Georgia was scheduled. Once again, rumors of delinquent behavior surfaced, and the Board of Trustees voted to ban intercollegiate athletics. This ban gave rise to a system of intramural sports directed by the University's newly-hired gymnasium director, Frank Clyde Brown, in 1897. But intramural athletics were not enough for students. After the construction of the J.P. Williams Athletic Hall at Oxford in 1907, students spent the better part of a decade petitioning the Board of Trustees to reinstate Emory athletics. Under this unrelenting pressure, the Board eventually gave in to student demands.

Although the issue of intercollegiate athletics was finally resolved at Oxford, at the University's Atlanta campus, the debate was just beginning. When Emory College moved to Atlanta in 1919, track and field was the only intercollegiate sport allowed. Ray K. Smathers, a track star at Duke University, enrolled in Emory Law School and became the University's first track and field coach, and then athletic director in 1921. Smathers founded the Southern Methodist Road Race held at Emory, and also arranged intercollegiate track meets. Smather's contribution to the growth of Emory athletics was invaluable, but following a disagreement with the Board, he resigned in 1923.

After Smathers' resignation, Dr. James G. Lester, an engineering professor, acted as part-time athletic director from 1923 to 1928. Lester promoted intramural sports, but also expanded intercollegiate athletics at Emory. A gymnasium and swimming center were built under his leadership, and intercollegiate tennis, golf, and swimming were all added.

Around this time, a student body that had advocated for intercollegiate athletics so passionately two decades before began to waver. In 1928, students voted in favor of intercollegiate athletics, specifically basketball. But soon after, under athletic director Ralph Fitts, the student body had a change of heart. Students voted to abolish intercollegiate track and to instead devote University funds to bolster Emory's intramurals.

Jeff McCord took over as athletic director in 1931, serving until 1942. Under McCord, intramurals and compulsory classes in physical education became increasingly popular; the University's focus shifted further away from intercollegiate sports.

The 1942 appointment of University President Goodrich C. White changed all this. White, along with Thomas E. McDonough, the chair of the division of physical education and athletics, was a staunch supporter of a professionally trained department of physical education. He turned Emory athletics into an academic department financed by the University.

In October 1945, the Board of Trustees issued its first pronouncement on athletic policy. As far as intercollegiate athletics were concerned, the Board endorsed competition in sports that contributed to health and fitness and had a "carry-over" value for life after college. This new policy permitted an expansion in competition to include swimming, golf, tennis, track and field and cross country. The Board also voted to allow teams to travel off-campus. At the same time, the Board did not allow competition in football, baseball, and basketball because of the elaborate facilities needed, along with the perceived lack of carry-over value.

Under my tenure as athletic director, intercollegiate sports continued to expand, particularly for women. Women's tennis was added in 1975, and women's cross country and track and field followed in the early 1980s.

But the most significant changes to Emory athletics since White and McDonough occured during University President James T. Laney's tenure. Laney divided the athletic program into two departments in 1983: the Department of Athletics and the Department of Recreation. Laney and Athletic Director Gerald Lowrey also created a new athletic conference, the University Athletic Association. The conference included many of Emory's peer institutions, such as the University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis. The new conference became the most geographically dispersed in the NCAA. "The UAA has finally given us a context in which we can pursue athletic excellence that will compliment the academic excellence of Emory," Lowrey said.

In the pas two decades, eight more athletic teams have been added to the intercollegiate program, bringing the total to 18. Emory ranks consistently high in all-around athletic programs, post-graduate NCAA scholars, academic all-Americans, and athletic all-Americans. Emory also plays host to many regional and NCAA championships. Emory has won five national championships in women's tennis, two in men's tennis, and two in women's swimming and diving. Emory also made history when Betsy Stephenson was selected in 2004 as the first female athletic director at the University.

Sometimes it's been a struggle, but here we are, a top-20 University boasting multiple teams with national titles. Not bad for a school that lost by 12 runs in its first game.

Professor Emeritus Clyde "Doc" Partin, Sr. ('50C) has worked as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and now historian in Emory's athletic department since 1951. His book on the history of Emory athletics, Athletics for All: The History of Sports at Emory, was released in December 2006.