First Woman House Tackle Gridder Gets Athletic Department Approval

After tackling several athletic department objections, sophomore Alexandra L. Coulter has received the go-ahead to be the first woman undergraduate ever to play House tackle football, Athletic Director John P. Reardon Jr. '60 said yesterday.

Coulter, who plays safety for the Lowell House team, said that in their efforts to deter her from playing football, athletic department officials went as far as asking her to sign a waiver absolving the University from all responsibility should she be injured during a game. No such waiver is required of male players.

But Reardon said yesterday that officials Floyd S. Wilson, director of intramural athletics and recreation, and Dr. Salvatore N. Mangano, athletic department surgeon, were not speaking officially when they asked Coulter to sign a waiver. "From our standpoint we weren't at all asking her to sign a release," Reardon said.

He added that Mangano and Wilson went down to the field merely to warn Coulter of the possible risks of playing a contact sport. "We weren't going to prevent Alex from playing, we just wanted her to be aware of the potential dangers," he said.

Coulter said that the athletic department delayed discussion of her right to play tackle football for two weeks after practices and scrimmages had already started. "They waited until five minutes before the first game before they said anything. Then they came right down to the field, took me aside, and told me I didn't have Harvard's permission to play," Coulter said.

"Dr. Mangano mentioned a waiver, but it was never really pressed," Wilson said. Mangano could not be reached for comment.

Both Reardon and Wilson said that the delay was not deliberate but due rather to "an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Once it was brought to his attention that Coulter intended to play football, Wilson said that he had to speak to Dr. Warren E.C. Wacker, director of University Health Services and Dr. Arthur L. Boland, head surgeon in the athletic department, to discuss the medical risks of Coulter's playing football.

In addition, Wilson said he needed the time to speak with University lawyers to find out if the college would be liable for injuries Coulter might sustain. He also asked the lawyers whether the University could legally bar Coulter from playing House football.

"After we were sure that she was aware of the risks involved, we had no intention of prohibiting her from playing," Wilson said. Reardon said that Harvard could legally have prevented Coulter from playing. Title IX of the Equal Education Act of 1972 does not require Harvard to let Coulter play, because tackle football is a contact sport, Reardon said.

The controversy over Coulter's case has sparked nationwide media interest. The Boston Globe ran a story on Coulter last Friday, and ABC Sports, the Good Day Show, and Sports Illustrated have also contacted her, she said.

But most of the gridder's teammates have accepted her as just another squad member.

Junior John McCallister, coach of the Lowell team, said he didn't feel Coulter's sex posed a problem. "There are a couple of other safeties on the team who can do a more complete job, but that's because they're had more experience, not because they're men," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, the only thing Alex can't do is take showers with us."

Another team member, sophomore Andres Fajardo '86, said that while he understood the University's concern, he thought that the element of danger involved was greatly exaggerated. "Alex has taken the precaution not to play a high contact position and greatly reduced the risk of injuring herself," he said.

Coulter herself says that while she has enjoyed playing on the team, the "hassle" involved may discourage her from playing again next year. "I feel like everyone [in the athletic department] is mad at me, and I don't know what I did wrong."