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The Connecticut women's basketball team takes on South Carolina on Big Monday (ESPN2, 9 p.m. ET) in a top-10 battle. With a victory,cheap jordan shoes, UConn cements its 100th consecutive win.
Susan Herbst, the first woman to be named president at the University of Connecticut, talked with espnW about the Huskies' accomplishments and what the success of the women's basketball program means to her.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
espnW: If UConn wins its 100th consecutive game,cheap jordans for sale, what would that mean to the school?
President Susan Herbst: It would mean a lot to the school. It's another milestone for an already excellent program. This is one of the greatest success stories,cheap real jordans,, not just in college sports, but generally in American athletics. We cherish every milestone. It means a lot to us, but so does the whole team and the program. I don't single this out from the extraordinary nature of the program more generally.
Susan Herbst, who calls the overall coverage of UConn's win streak "scanty" wants to see the Huskies get the same attention as successful men's sports teams. AP Photo/Jessica Hill
espnW: As a woman president, of which there are very few at institutions of higher education, what does it mean to have your school's most successful athletic team be a women's program?
Herbst: Well, thanks for asking that. Well under 20 percent of research university presidents are women, and that figure has been very flat for a very long time. There's a long way to go for women in higher education, and I'm not sure why so many schools have been hesitant to hire women as presidents.
I will say that as more women become presidents, I hope they value women's college athletics as much as [Connecticut has]. I think that's one of the many kinds of change women can bring to universities and higher education. I don't see women's sports as secondary; I think they are just as important as the male sports. They don't get as much attention, and they should. As a woman in leadership, I'm baffled by it, but I hope it will change and that women presidents will be advocates for it.
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espnW: Why do you think so many large institutions are reticent to invest in women's sports?
Herbst: I don't know. I'd have to ascribe it to the same general reasons women are behind in so many fields. Whether it's Fortune 500 CEOs or people at the top of various industries, you don't see a lot of women. I think you're seeing that kind of culture in the value that we place on women's sports. We do everything we possibly can at UConn to fight that and to overcome it.
We need other networks, higher education leaders, and corporate leaders to understand that these sports are extremely entertaining and engaging. They're not lesser than men's sports; they're not less interesting or competitive. They are different, and I don't know that people take the time to appreciate those differences and what women can do when you believe in them.
espnW: How do you respond to those who say that UConn is too dominant?
Herbst: I think that's absurd. I don't know that anyone ever said that about the UCLA men, the New York Yankees or the New England Patriots. What they get is massive respect. Them being excellent and changing the game is looked at with admiration and awe, and we expect the same thing.
espnW: You sound like you know your sports. Are you a sports fan?
Herbst: Absolutely. It's something I've loved for a long time. To have the honor to be the president of UConn with amazing sports across the board has been a real pleasure.
"It's another milestone for an already excellent program. This is one of the greatest success stories, not just in college sports, but generally in American athletics."
Connecticut president Susan Herbst, on the Huskies possibly winning 100 straight games
espnW: What would equal celebration of female athletes look like for you?
Herbst: I think that the coverage beyond ESPN and SNY has been pretty scanty relative to the magnitude of our accomplishments compared to the Patriots or the UCLA basketball team under John Wooden. I have not done systematic media content analysis, but I imagine that the sheer amount of coverage and its placement has been a lot less. I expect our record to match the very high level of coverage that you see for other sports.
To get more specific, I think a lot of times people look at UConn women's basketball and are not interested in particular players and their stories. These are really fabulous women who are going to rule the world someday. They are great students, leaders, and are excellent citizens of the community. I'd like to see a lot more emphasis on individual players and their achievements in addition to the team.
I'm very grateful to our enormous fan base that spreads far from Connecticut and around the world. I am the constant recipient of amazing emails from people around the world who watch and see what this program is doing for athletics and for women, so I'm very grateful for the attention we do get and hope it can continue with the excellence of the program.