MIAMI SHORES, Fla.--The original 12 founders of the Council of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (CCWAA) – currently known as NACWAA (the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators) - were honored recently in New York City during the organization's annual Fall Forum and 25th Anniversary Recognition Luncheon. NACWAA now boasts 1300+ members. Barry's Dean of the School of Human Performance and Leisure Sciences (HPLS), Dr. G. Jean Cerra, was one of those 12 women who created the organization back in 1979.
"It was extremely fulfilling to see how so many women who have held, currently hold, or aspire to hold, senior level administrative positions in athletics have been positively impacted by this organization – one that has been in existence for only a very short time. The vision for this organization was embedded in a strong commitment to further the professional development of women in this field during some very challenging times through mentorship, information sharing, and educational programming," said Dr. Cerra upon receipt of her award.
Dr. Cerra's impact nationally did not stop there. During the 70's and 80's, she was part of the struggle to implement Title IX on campuses and to create opportunities for women within the NCAA, which prior to 1981 was only offering championships for men. She and nine of these women played a key role during the late 70's and early 1980's in bringing about the acceptance of women into the NCAA governance structure, including the establishment of NCAA Championships for women and the opportunities that affiliation created for full athletic, talent-based scholarships for women as we know them today.
At the time CCWAA was founded, Dr. Cerra held the position of Associate Director of Athletics for Internal Operations at the University of Missouri-Columbia and was one of the first women in NCAA Division I-A during the late 1970's to assume administrative responsibilities for both men and women. Dr. Cerra was instrumental in proposing this concept of a gender-neutral organizational structure, which eventually became the model most emulated across the nation for intercollegiate athletics. She began her tenure at Mizzou in 1976 as Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Women's Athletics with the task of smoothly integrating the women's athletics program into the existing men's athletics department and guiding the university through a planned timetable for meeting its commitment for compliance with Title IX. As a member of Dave Hart, Sr.'s athletics staff, she became one of the first women to teach within NACDA's (the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) Level II Management Seminar from 1981-84, speaking on "Academic and Eligibility Issues" and "Effective Personnel Management."
Dr. Cerra has always been respected as a national leader in athletics and has served her profession unselfishly for over 30 years. She recently completed her term on the prestigious NCAA D-II Management Council. She was one of the charter women appointed to the NCAA Council and the D-I Steering Committee in 1980 and served until 1985. She has chaired and served on numerous NCAA committees throughout her professional career.
"Dr. Cerra has made a direct and indirect impact on the opportunities for all women in athletics --both for the student-athlete and those in athletic careers,"Barry's Kathy Turpin said. "As a former student-athlete at University of Missouri under her leadership in the late 1970's, and now the associate director of athletics at Barry, she has undoubtedly had a direct impact on my career in both areas. As one of the founders of the CCWAA she has been instrumental in the development of what NACWAA is today, an organization that prepares, mentors and supports women for careers in athletic administration. Her many experiences with the AIAW and then leadership in the establishment of NCAA championships for women, and her work to see that women have the opportunity to assume administrative positions with responsibilities for both men and women programs, has been enormous. Dr. Cerra is one of a select group of administrators who have made an important contribution to women in college athletics, and has done so in creating a student-athletic experience equally rewarding for both genders."
Cerra has been distinguished with numerous awards and honors. In February, 2002 she joined eight other notable women when she was presented the St. Leo University "Women in Sport Achievement Award." These included such prominent figures as Gay Culverhouse (former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), Dottie Pepper (LPGA tour player), Lyn St. James (Formula One race car driver), and Merrily Dean Baker (former A.D. at Michigan State Univ.). In 2003 the award went to Dr. Dot Richardson, M.D. (orthopedic surgeon and softball phenom on the USA's 2000 Olympic Gold Medal Softball team). In June, 2000 she joined a select group of former athletic directors to become enshrined into NACDA's Hall of Fame. In 1998 she was similarly recognized through induction into the Sunshine State Conference Hall of Fame. She received a Citation of Merit in 1992 from the Alumni Association of the University of Missouri-Columbia for outstanding achievement and meritorious service in education. She was listed in Who's Who of American Women in 1982 and was an "Outstanding Young Woman of America" in 1978. She was inducted into LSV, Mystical Seven, QEBH, and Mortar Board (leadership honoraries at Missouri) as well as Kappa Delta Pi, Phi Delta Kappa, Delta Psi Kappa, and Phi Epsilon Kappa (national professional honor societies in Education and Physical Education).
In 1991, Dr. Cerra assumed the position of Dean and Director of Athletics at Barry University. Since then the Buccaneer athletics program has soared into national prominence in almost every men's and women's sport and is a national model for how to achieve athletic success in combination with academic excellence. Under Dr. Cerra's leadership, Barry attained its highest finish ever in the NCAA D-II Sears/NACDA Director's Cup standings, placing 3rd nationally in 1997-98 and #1 among the private institutions in D-II. Barry's intercollegiate athletics program repeated this #1 finish again in 2001-02 and has consistently finished in the upper quartile among the 250+ NCAA D-II institutions comprising these rankings since the award's inception. In addition, the Buccaneers have won five National Championships during her administration at Barry: two in Women's Soccer (1992 & 1993) and three in Women's Volleyball (1995, 2001 & 2004). Complimenting this athletic success has been the stellar academic performance of the Barry student-athletes over this period. It was during the 1996-97 year that Barry's student-athletes broke the landmark goal of having 60% or more attain cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or better – a first time high from an initial low of less than 40% in this category in the early 1990's when she first arrived on the Barry campus. The six-year graduation rate for Barry student-athletes consistently ranks highest among the Sunshine State Conference and has surpassed the national rate for D-II by over 15 percentage points. In May, 2000 Barry made athletic history when it became the only NCAA institution among all three divisions to have a second student-athlete named as a Walter Byers Post-Graduate Scholarship Award recipient – one of the most competitive and prestigious annual awards presented by the NCAA to any student-athlete.
"I accepted the Barry position for two reasons," said Dr. Cerra. "First, Sr. Jeanne O'Laughlin, Dr. J. Patrick Lee, and I shared a common belief, and a burning desire to prove, that it was possible to build a highly competitive athletics program with talented student-athletes who were also good students. And second, I recognized how privileged I was to be given this unique position and be at the helm of a varsity athletics program at an institution that really wanted to "do it right," as well as a place with untapped potential and strong administrative support to develop highly respected undergraduate and graduate degree programs in the sport-related disciplines."
A native of Tampa, Fla., G. Jean Cerra received her Bachelor's degree in Physical Education from Florida State University, her Master's degree in the same field from The University of Iowa, and her Ph.D. in Educational Administration from The University of Missouri-Columbia.
