Dot Casey, Salemtowne resident, was the focus of attention recently as Wake Forest University celebrated 40 years of progress in women’s sports. Dot is a former faculty member in the Physical Education department at Wake, and was the women’s athletic director from 1974 until her retirement in 1988. In 1993 she was one of the first two women inducted into Wake Forest’s Sports Hall of Fame.
At a recognition luncheon, a group of Wake Forest women who had earned “White Jackets” (the equivalent of varsity letter jackets) recognized Dot for her seminal contributions to the women’s sports program.
In 1971, there was no intercollegiate sports program for women, only intramural sports. That year the university president agreed to a $500 budget for the launch of an intercollegiate program for women. Marge Crisp, then the women’s athletic director, and Dot got busy. Somehow, they stretched the $500 to cover five sports. One cost-savings measure was to have the basketball and volleyball teams share a single set of uniforms.
Little by little, one water bottle and tennis racquet at a time, the program grew, until now the women’s program can boast of a budget of millions of dollars, three national championships, and many other honors.
