Befitting its strong commitment to inclusion and diversity, Northern Illinois University turned to one of its own, naming alumna Cary Groth as director of intercollegiate athletics for the school’s (then) 16-sport, NCAA Division I program.
The historic announcement, made by NIU president John LaTourette on August 8, 1994, at a press conference at Holmes Student Center, led to a decade of significant Huskie athletics achievement during Groth’s tenure.
At the time, the 38-year-old Groth joined an elite group, i.e., Michigan State University’s Merrily Dean Baker and the University of Washington’s Barbara Hedges, as only the third female athletic director among the then 107 major-college institutions with an NCAA Division 1-A (now FBS) football program. One week after Groth’s appointment, the University of Maryland’s Deborah Yow became the fourth 1-A woman AD.
“This is the biggest day in my professional life, being able to serve my alma mater in this capacity,” Groth said. A two-sport NIU student-athlete (tennis in 1974-77) and basketball (1976-77), she would serve her beloved alma mater for 23 years as a coach, administrator, and AD. In 2009, Groth was inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame.
President LaTourette’s introductory remarks turned out to be quite a prophecy.
“Cary will be an exceptional administrator who will be an outstanding leader and representative of NIU’s program,” LaTourette said. “Our search confirmed what we knew, that besides having strong support within the program, she has an excellent national reputation with commissioners and athletic directors around the country.”
Among her major Northern Illinois accomplishments were (1) rejoining the Mid-American Conference after an 11-year absence (1997), (2) becoming one of the first eight major schools to make NCAA Certification (1995) and being re-certified (2000), (3) hiring head football coach Joe Novak (1996), (4) updating the graphic look of the Huskie mascot logo (2001), (5) upgrading or developing major facilities projects such as the Huskie Stadium East Grandstand (1995) and its FieldTurf surface (2001), the Convocation Center (2002), Ralph McKinzie Field (baseball), Mary M. Bell Field (softball), and the soccer complex.
Groth’s work on and off the field would garner national acclaim.
In 2002, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, in noting the 30th anniversary of Title IX, named Groth to the Commission on Opportunity in Athletics, a blue-ribbon panel that examined “…ways of strengthening enforcement and expanding opportunities to ensure fairness for all college athletes.”
She was named among the “Super 50: Women’s Sports Executives” by Street & Smith’s Business Journal (1998), the Administrator of the Year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (2003), the Division 1-A Administrator of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (2003), plus the recipient of the Gen. Neyland Achievement Award by the All-American Football Foundation (2002).
In addition, Groth served on the Commission on the Status of Women in Illinois (1998-2003), the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Board of Trustees, and NACWAA president (1994).
The double NIU graduate later became the AD at the University of Nevada-Reno (2004-13) where the Wolf Pack captured 13 Western Athletic Conference championships in seven different sports and won the school’s first WAC all-sports Commissioners Cup trophy (2006-07). A four-sport athlete at suburban Rich East High School, Groth is retired and lives in Nevada.
By Mike Korcek, Sports Information Director Emeritus
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