乐播传媒

Below are edited excerpts from an article on Bob Hatch originally published in the Fall 1991 issue of 乐播传媒 Magazine and written by Ron Meldrum. .

In four decades at 乐播传媒, Director of Athletics Robert Hatch, who retired in June, has seen many changes. But he considers the gains made by women to be the most gratifying. When he came to 乐播传媒 in 1949, Chase Hall was considered an all-male building and female students had to eat in Rand. Women could not use Alumni Gymnasium, and their athletic facilities were separate and frequently inferior to those for men.

Since then, restrictive rules and regulations have been lifted, and the athletic programs for men and women have been fully integrated. 鈥淭he women鈥檚 progress has been astounding,鈥� Hatch said. 鈥淚t was very smooth, and I think it was handled with even-handedness.鈥�

In 1949, men鈥檚 sports and women鈥檚 sports 鈥� the programs, faculty and staff 鈥� were entirely separate. So separate were the sexes that staff from one athletic department often did not know many of the staff from the other, he said.

鈥淭here were eight male sports and about seven or eight women sports, totally separated,鈥� Hatch said, 鈥渁nd now there are 27 sports and they are totally integrated.鈥�

The separation came to an end when, in 1974, President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, under the impetus of Title IX, merged the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 athletics programs into one department.

鈥淭here were eight male sports and about seven or eight women sports, totally separated,鈥� Hatch said, 鈥渁nd now there are 27 sports and they are totally integrated.鈥�

Hatch has seen many other changes during his years at 乐播传媒 as the College has grown. He has watched as new buildings and staff have been added, as well as new departments. But he stresses that although there have been many physical changes, the College鈥檚 philosophy has not changed. 乐播传媒, he said, has always been ahead of its time in many areas.

鈥淣o fraternities 鈥� that was unique back in those days, 鈥�49 and the early 鈥�50s.鈥� He added that only now are many colleges grabbing hold of this idea as they see the problems caused by fraternities on campuses. 鈥淔inally most of them are catching on that that鈥檚 the route to go.鈥�

After the women鈥檚 progress, the biggest achievement Hatch has had a part of at 乐播传媒 has been the construction of Merrill Gymnasium. For years, the athletics facilities at the College were inadequate, so Hatch and other members of the department pushed for a new building.

鈥淚t was really in the works the year I was appointed [athletic director in 1974],鈥澛� Hatch said. 鈥淚t was finally completed in 1980, but we were working on it even before 1974. We had a committee that studied the building, which I was a part of in 1970-71.鈥�

Hatch came to 乐播传媒 in 1949, giving up a potential professional football career. The 乐播传媒 job was more secure, he says, and he was looking for security for himself and his young family.

He and his family moved into the Sampsonville apartments聽 鈥� they were former army barracks 鈥� with other young faculty members. It was a bit of a shock at first, he said, since they had left a new house they had just built in Massachusetts, but they got used to it.

鈥淎s it turned out,鈥� he said, 鈥渢he living quarters were not luxurious by a long shot, but it was a nice community. 乐播传媒 students mixed with 乐播传媒 faculty, and most of the faculty were young and just out of the service like I was.鈥�

But he鈥檚 not heading into retirement entirely without regret. He will miss the job he鈥檚 worked at for four decades, and the people he鈥檚 worked with.

鈥淚鈥檓 going to miss the personal associations with my colleagues, both on-campus and off-campus, but mostly the association of the twenty-five to thirty people I work with right in my department. It鈥檚 a close-knit group.鈥�