Fresh off a national title win, the 2001 Notre Dame women’s basketball team went to Washington, D.C., for the traditional champion’s visit with President George W. Bush. Head Coach Muffet McGraw didn’t know that meeting with the president might have led to another memorable experience.

McGraw, known for seeking equality between men’s and women’s sports at Notre Dame, was named to the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in the summer of 2002. It commemorated a long trail of struggle and change that McGraw helped start, using the ideals of Title IX to advance opportunity for women. Tonight, after 24 years of initiating change, McGraw brings her Fighting Irish to Manley Field House to face Syracuse at 7.

‘Title IX,’ McGraw said, ‘is the best thing to happen to women’s athletics.’

McGraw was the only basketball coach named to the 15-member panel, which included athletic directors and high profile athletes like Olympic gold medal swimmer Donna DeVarona and soccer player Julie Foudy.

‘Politics was never something I wanted to get into,’ McGraw said. ‘But this was a very interesting experience.’

The commission was created to discuss new ways to develop equality and fairness in college athletics. McGraw, a veteran in that department, fit right in.

Upon her arrival at Notre Dame in 1987, McGraw fought to obtain rights for her athletes that the men took for granted.

‘The men got the best practice times and they flew to games that we would take a bus to,’ McGraw said. ‘We don’t have any complaints now. Things have really changed.’

Much of that change is McGraw’s doing. Not only did she secure better treatment for her team, but she also popularized women’s basketball at Notre Dame. The attendance for women’s basketball has ranked in the top 10 in the country the past three years. The Irish also had two sellout crowds in 2001.

‘Women’s basketball has been in the bright lights at Notre Dame,’ Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White said, ‘and Muffet has everything to do with that.’

McGraw was a player when Title IX was in its beginning stages. She graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 1977, five years after Title IX passed. Her experience with inequality fuels her current fight for athletes.

‘I’ve always tried to advance it,’ McGraw said. ‘I grew up through that. Title IX was necessary.’

While things at Notre Dame and other universities have improved, McGraw still sees a problem with scholastic sports. At the community level, she said, many girls are being treated unfairly.

McGraw recalls the different treatment her team received while coaching at Archbishop Carroll High School in Philadelphia.

‘We had separate courts to practice, but we played games at 3:30 and the guys played at night,’ McGraw said. ‘It seemed like they had the special billing.’

While McGraw has no plans to address the scholastic level now, it’s a good bet that she will continue to fight for equality well after her time at Notre Dame.

‘Once she pursues something, she does it to the fullest,’ said Sandy Botham, McGraw’s former assistant and current head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

McGraw’s intensity is surely one of the factors that allow her to make such an impact. Her tenacious attitude led Notre Dame to adapt the equality it enjoys today.

‘I feel like I’m more intense than my players,’ McGraw said. ‘It’s a good thing that my players aren’t like me. They would probably kill each other.’

While everyone is not like McGraw, collegiate athletics would be much different without her. Whether McGraw is fighting for equal practice time or better traveling conditions, she does it with the same energy as she coaches. Her reputation as a player’s coach has made her popular at Notre Dame.

‘Muffet brought tremendous insight,’ White said. ‘She has the welfare of the student-athletes in mind.’

The players at Notre Dame know that with McGraw on their side, success is likely. It is a trend that is unlikely to change.

‘She fought for equality in jobs and salaries,’ Botham said. ‘She really helped Notre Dame turn the corner.’

Published on January 20, 2004 at 12:00 pm