By Gracie Fairfax | Echo
[caption id="attachment_9343" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Senior Tobi Ballantine plays flag football, one of her favorite intramural sports.[/caption]
Unity. Belonging. These are the goals of intramurals.
"There's something about sports that brings people together," said senior Tobi Ballantine.
Last year, Ballantine served as the second president of intramurals under Taylor Student Organization (TSO). Ballantine applied for the position because of her love for sports. She appreciates the opportunity intramurals gives students, especially former athletes, to take fifty minutes of their day, get out on the field and enjoy some friendly competition.
What began as a simple leadership position to facilitate friendly competition soon evolved into a gender issue, as participants questioned the knowledge and authority of the leader of intramurals because she was a woman.
When she entered the role, Ballantine realized that leadership roles involving athletics tended to be male-dominated, but she couldn't have anticipated the controversy that followed.
"I was pretty surprised when people responded the way that they did, because I didn't think of it as a big deal at all," Ballantine said. "(A lot of the time) people were surprised by my knowledge of football, which is really silly to me because obviously I'm going to have to know about sports if I'm in charge of intramurals."
While the negative attitude and comments didn't come from all intramural participants and many were very supportive, there was one situation in which a referee refused to acknowledge her as the head of intramurals-insisting Steve Austin, director of student programs, was in charge.
With time, the negative attitudes caused Ballantine to question herself as a leader.
"At first I felt really insecure and I had some really good conversations with Steve Austin," said Ballantine. "He was like 'You're in this job for a reason.' He was very empowering as a boss, but would call me out on stuff too if I was being too cocky."
Austin recognizes that the competitive nature of intramurals can cause conflict that is not necessarily gender-related, but he agrees with Ballantine that in certain situations, she was disrespected solely because of her gender.
This year, junior Mary Fox is stepping into the role of president of intramurals. Ballantine and Austin both hope that the conflicts dealt with last year will diminish the number of issues Fox has to confront this year.
"I hope she'll never feel inadequate just because she's a woman," said Ballantine. "There's going to be times when she's going to feel insecure about her position and that's a natural thing that a leader will feel in any role that they take, but I hope it's never a gender issue."
Austin noted at least 25 percent of the student body is new each year as seniors graduate and new freshmen enter in.
Taylor has had an increasing amount of programming regarding gender issues on campus, with the hope that continued conversation will create a shift in the mindsets of students from apathetic to actively seeking truth.
"Conversation forces us to think, but it doesn't necessarily force us to change," said Austin.
As the school year progresses, Austin anticipates continuing dialogue about gender issues on campus. Although he doesn't think the issue will be easily resolved, he believes it is important to continue the conversation while taking steps toward change.
"My fervent hope for the campus is that, as men and women build more friendships and relationships on our campus, there is more respect and understanding of individuals," Austin said. "I think those relationships and conversations are the number one way for those conversations to occur. I think if men and women are becoming friends, that is a significant step in the right direction."
Despite the past conflict, Fox is optimistic that this year doesn't have to look the same as last year. While she is aware of the misunderstandings Ballantine faced, she is prepared to step into the role with a fresh perspective.
TSO hopes that the issues of the past will be used as an opportunity for growth and that leaders are able to guide students toward conversation over competition.
