Men's Rights Activist in College

Story Info
Athletic director sticks up for college men.
3.3k words
2.29
18.3k
00

Part 3 of the 5 part series

Updated 08/24/2017
Created 08/01/2007
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here
Samuelx
Samuelx
2,120 Followers

Howdy, folks. The name is Kurt Lob. I'm a tall, good-looking, thirty-something black man living in Virginia. I'm the Athletic Director of Mason College, a private four-year college located near a small town of the same name in Eastern Virginia. The school only has two thousand students. The student body was sixty percent female and forty percent male when I came along. I changed that. I'm responsible for renovating the place and putting it on the map. How did I do that? By strengthening and diversifying the Department of Athletics. Originally, Mason College was a lily-white liberal arts school which only offered trivial sports. They had Men's Basketball, Soccer, Badminton, and Tennis. They also offered Women's Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Tennis and Badminton. Could the place get any whiter? I mean, do you know a lot of black Men or black Women who play Soccer, Tennis or Badminton?

I decided to revolutionize the Department of Athletics. First, I added Men's Division Three College Football. Since the school had more female students than males, I balanced things out by adding a Women's Swimming team. The summer we added Football to the sports program, we had three hundred and eighty six new male students apply to the school. Adding Football boosted male enrollment at the college. The following Fall, we also added Men's Cross Country and Men's Baseball along with Women's Cross Country and Rugby. Beefing up the Athletic Department not only changed the dynamics on campus, but it also forever altered the gender balance. For the first time in its 200-year history, Mason College was fifty percent male and fifty percent female. I kept adding sports, such as Men's Wrestling, Men's Swimming and Women's Track.

Two years into my tenure as Director, I was the recipient of an award from the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The Football team won its division championship, and both the coach and the players nominated me. I've never been so proud in my life. I had to almost literally fight the college president and the board of directors in order to add Football to the number of Varsity sports we offered. The Football program generated more revenue than any other sport. We were fast becoming an athletic powerhouse. You have to understand that the people of the nearby town had lived centuries without having a college football team to support and cheer for. Now that we were here, they cheered us on like you would not believe. Men and Women from the town of Mason cheered on our team when we faced off against other teams. Win or lose, they were with us. Also, we attracted many corporate sponsors. Many young Men and Women from the nearby Mason high school, who would have gone far away from home opted to attend Mason College instead. We were definitely on the map.

My policy was to add sports no matter what. Other schools cut sports to comply with Title IX or due to financial reasons. I intended to prevent any sports teams from being cut unless absolutely necessary. Even when our coffers were filled, we had fundraisers. I also hired a kick-ass graphic designer to create the Mason College Department of Athletics website. I made sure he showed how awesome and diverse the school sports were. We had a growing number of black Men and black Women on campus. I think it's because of our Men's and Women's Cross Country and Basketball teams. Black folks run or play ball, that's one of our many strengths. Few black students go out for the Tennis or Swimming Varsity teams, even though they were offered to Men and Women at the campus. However, this was still a predominantly white school. I added Men's Varsity Ice Hockey along with Women's Lacrosse, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Rugby, Women's Field Hockey, Men's Golf and Women's Golf. Naturally, mostly white brats went to play for these teams. The black students played Basketball, ran Cross Country or filled up the Gridiron. I guess some things never change.

Five years into my tenure at Mason College, the school had become one of the athletic powerhouses of Virginia. We offered Men's Intercollegiate Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, Badminton, Rugby, Swimming, Lacrosse, Football, Wrestling, Golf, Ice Hockey, Cross Country, Track, Archery, Baseball, Volleyball and Bowling. We also offered Women's Intercollegiate Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, Badminton, Rugby, Swimming, Lacrosse, Field Hockey, Ice Hockey, Golf, Cross Country, Track, Archery, Softball, Wrestling, Rowing and Bowling. These were the varsity sports. The students often expressed interest in Club Sports and I showed them my full support. Thus, we founded a Men's Cycling Club, a Women's Boxing Club and a coed Equestrian Club. Equestrian is often considered a women's sport in college. However, since both male and female students showed interest, I let them have a mixed Club. There were eleven women and eight men in the Equestrian Club. I've never been into riding or horses, but to each his or her own. I gave them the financial support of the Athletic Department. And sure enough, they did us proud. The Equestrian Club won regional titles in its first year. How about that?

I pride myself on being an innovator. I think ahead of the pack and of the times. However, my biggest struggle was yet to come. I had done many great things in my career. I added an equal number of sports for men and women at Mason College. I supported all athletes, both male and female equally. I set out to be a good example for all of them, especially the young men. Lots of young black men enrolling at Mason College didn't have any father figure. Now, I can't replace a man's father. However, I was a good friend and mentor to many of these young men. I let them know that my door was always open to them. You see, many young men in America don't attend college not because they're not bright enough or lack the funds, but because they weren't encouraged. One such young man was Tyrone Peterson, of Mason High School.

I met Tyrone Peterson the day he walked into my office, hurried and sweaty, asking me when the football tryouts were. I looked at him. A tall, good-looking, brawny young black man. Both his name and face were familiar, in part because he was a spectacular lineman on the Mason High School football team last year. I keep track of the trends and names at Mason High School. Most of the students end of attending Mason College anyway. Oh, yeah. Back to Tyrone. I told him to relax, then offered him a cup of water. I've had lots of athletes show up in my office in this manner. There was Eileen Thomas, who played football for Mason High School. She joined the Women's Rugby team at Mason College and became its captain. She too was a walk-on tryout. I never dismiss anyone's abilities based on appearance or circumstances. I walked Tyrone to the tryouts, and learned a bit more about him. He was eighteen years old, and lived with his mother, schoolteacher Janine Peterson. His father was John Brown Peterson, the city's police captain. I knew both his parents. They were members of my church. Last I heard, they were going through a messy divorce. This had to be tough on Tyrone. Poor kid. I introduced him to William Ripley, the Head Football Coach. Ripley was a stocky red-haired, fifty-something Irishman from Boston. He left one of the major universities down there when they did away with their football program. I offered him a chance to be Head Coach at Mason College. He took it. He's a good man. I asked him to let Tyrone try out. He agreed.

We stood there, watching football practice. The young men we had this year were tough as nails. Lots of them were black or Hispanic. As a Division Three College, Mason didn't offer athletic scholarships. The young men and women who played for our sports teams did so because they loved it. They were also bright students. Academically, Mason College was a tough institution. Very hard to get into. Coach Ripley and I watched football practice. Tyrone was pretty good out there. Of course, almost anyone can shine one day and suck the next. Coach decided to give him a chance. Now, I am the athletic director, but I never interfere between a coach and his or her players. That's bad judgment. Let the people do their job. A few days later, an excited Tyrone showed up in my office. He made it on the football team! In his overly excited state, he hugged me, then apologized. I smiled, and shook my head. I wished him the best of luck. It's always a good thing to see young people's dreams come true.

As the football program geared itself for a tough season, I looked after things. I made sure every team got adequate funding for trips and games. I personally encouraged the young athletes ( of all sports) when they got on the bus to go off and play against some other team. Sometimes, they won. Other times, they lost. Rain or shine, I was there for them. I weathered many crises. Women's Rugby team captain Eileen Thomas got pregnant by her boyfriend, basketball player Jamal Gray during their senior year. Eileen came to my office with Jamal, crying. Apparently, she had been kicked out by her intolerant parents, first for getting knocked up and second, for being with a black man. Likewise, Jamal wasn't getting much support from his folks either. I remembered Jamal well. The tall, good-looking black man who showed up at basketball practice every day on time and shone like one of the best. He was a cool guy, and many of the younger players looked up to him. What was I to do? I couldn't simply turn them away. I mean, these kids looked up to me. And I was like a parent to them. They had nowhere to go. I lived in a big house by myself, so I let them stay the night. I told them they'd be welcome to stay as long as they needed. That was mighty generous of me, but not prudent. You have to understand that in collegiate America, certain things aren't done. Even the appearance of impropriety between a student and a faculty member could cost said faculty member their job. I was risking my job and retirement plan by letting them stay at my place. But I couldn't just throw them out.

Life went on. Jamal and Eileen remained at my place for a week, then found low-rent housing and moved in together. I was happy for them and kind of relieved. If anyone from the college administration found out, I'd be out of a job. I returned to work as if nothing had happened. Watching the sports teams compete was a major source of joy in my life. Over the past year, both the men's and women's basketball teams have produced NBA and WNBA players. How about that? The football team had yet to produce an NFL player but I didn't care. Watching them play was good enough for me. Tyrone was a powerful presence on the gridiron. He was the best lineman I'd ever seen. Strong, fast, sharp and resilient. He seemed to be everywhere at once. I loved watching him work. I showed up at every game. He was always glad to see me. I always encouraged him. Encouraging young people, especially at-risk young men, should be a priority for all educators. And as Athletic Director, I am an educator, first and foremost.

When I would ask him how things were going at home, Tyrone would get sad. He told me that his parents and their lawyers were always at each other's throats. And he felt like a pawn. He also told me that his mother got verbally abusive with him whenever he defended his father's name. Truly, he was living in a negative environment. And his grades began to suffer. Mason College has a policy. Student-athletes must maintain a minimum 2.0 GPA otherwise they can't play. It doesn't matter if they're male or female. I didn't want to see Tyrone get cut from the football team. So, I spoke to my friend, Academic Support Advisor Nancy Trey about the problem. Nancy Trey is an older lady with silver hair. A firebrand who joined Mason College from Harvard twenty years before my time. She ran the Academic Support Center, which helped students who were at risk academically. I sent Tyrone to her. At first, he didn't want to go. When his GPA threatened to slip, I practically forced him to. He went, to get tutored in his Mathematics and Literature. Now, Tyrone wasn't dumb. He came to Mason College with a 3.98 GPA from Mason High School last year. I knew that he wasn't focused on schoolwork due to problems at home. I thought Nancy could remediate the situation. She did what she could, but told me that Tyrone's case was part of a growing problem. Lots of students, especially young men, weren't doing well academically.

What was to be done with Tyrone and other young men like him? While walking around the campus, I noticed the Women's Center. Lots of women were moving in and out of it. It was a vibrant place. As I walked past it and into my office, an idea sprang into my mind. If we had a Women's Center, why couldn't we have a Men's Center? I thought long and hard about this. Since the 1960s, women were the dominant presence on many college and university campuses. They typically made up more than half of the student body. This was due to society encouraging women to attend institutions of higher education and also supporting them. Also, schools supported female students in many ways. Was the same true of male students? Sadly, no. Male students were more likely to get bad grades, end up in trouble or commit suicide. What could I do about this? I talked to Nancy about my idea. We had a long talk about it. Nancy considered herself a staunch feminist. She fully supported women's rights. She was a supporter of civil rights, period. Nancy was there when Mason College created a Black Student Union and a Gay And Lesbian Alliance. However, after running the Academic Support Center for decades, she realized that college women were doing fine while college men were suffering in many ways. Ninety percent of the students who came to the Support Center for help were male. Something had to be done about this. We approached the college president, and asked to open a Men's Center.

The college president, a grim-faced little man named Louis Nader was not exactly thrilled with our idea. Understand that he's a narrow-minded little prick who's always opposed me in everything I did. When he hired me as Athletic Director over five years ago, he thought I was going to be his puppet. I wasn't. I stood my ground and revolutionized the Athletic Department. I added more sports for men and women. I increased our annual revenue by almost two hundred percent. I diversified the campus by encouraging black and Hispanic students to attend, thanks to a boost in popular sports like Football, Basketball, Cross Country and Wrestling. Nancy and I stood our ground. He flat out told us no. We came back, this time with facts and figures. The Mason College student body was officially fifty percent male and fifty percent female. However, ninety seven percent of our female students graduated while only seventy nine to eighty percent of our young men did. They were more likely to drop out of the school for a variety of reasons. The president said he would bring this before the board of directors. They were still reluctant. Nancy and I didn't know what to do. I did the unthinkable. I got the students involved. I spoke to many of these young men and women who looked up to me. I told them that the school was discriminating against male students by refusing to create a Men's Center. As a coeducational educational institution which occasionally took public funds, Mason College couldn't discriminate based on gender. That was our mantra. The response from students was surprising.

Lots of young men rallied behind Nancy and myself. What surprised me was the number of female students who also supported the idea of opening a Men's Center. I guess the world made more progress than I thought. In the 1960s, many men supported women's rights. In the 2000s, in many ways, men were discriminated against. It's good to see that some women were willing to stand up for the rights of the men in their lives. Three hundred students of both sexes and various races held a peaceful demonstration outside the president's office building. Someone had the bright idea of filming the whole thing and putting it on YouTube. I'm happy to say that this innovative mind belonged to Tyrone, my protégé. The media soon got involved. Finally, after three days, the president relented. Mason College opened its Men's Center in a large room near the Department of Athletics three weeks later. Nancy named her assistant Julie Haverhill as Director of the Academic Support Center and became the Director of the Men's Center. I became the Assistant Director and a frequent Faculty Advisor. I couldn't be both Director of Athletics and an academic director at the same time. It violated campus administrative policy. Nancy and I exchanged high-fives the day they put the sign on the door. Finally, male students had place where they could go for counseling, academic or otherwise. I hoped this would change things for the better on campus and boost male graduation trends. Collegiate America has done all it could to support women's education. That's fine by me. What's not cool is the fact that they've turned their backs on the college man. But here at Mason College, male and female students, athletes and non-athletes alike are valued equally. That's the way the world should be.

Yep, that's my story in a nutshell. I came to Mason College as a greenhorn, having recently gotten my Master's degree from Boston College. We continue to add both men's and women's sports on campus. We recently added Men's Intercollegiate Rifle and Fencing, as well as Women's Rifle and Women's Fencing. We now have Club teams in both Men's Gymnastics and Women's Gymnastics. The school also fields Club teams in Men's and Women's Rifle, Men's and Women's Skiing and a coed Club in something called Squash. These Clubs are doing pretty well and if they continue to gain in numbers and popularity, I will see to it that they rise to the varsity level soon. That year, I was granted with even more blessings. The Men's Center gained new counselors, among them some psychologists and physical therapists.

Although the administration does this with gritted teeth, we do receive adequate funding. I got to watch Tyrone Peterson become the Most Valuable Player of the Football team. Oh, and Eileen and Jamal graduated with Bachelors degrees in business management and criminal justice, respectively. They got married and are the proud parents of twin boys. They honored me by naming me Godfather. I'm touched. Really. My eyes got moist. I can't wait for my new godsons to grow. I hope they attend Mason! We are ranked among the One Hundred Best Schools in America, for Athleticism, of course. I'm quite proud of the work we're doing here. I do think that with our innovative thinking, we're ahead of many others. So, send us your sons and daughters. They'd be hard-pressed to find a better school. I personally guarantee it. I should know, after all, I run Mason College.

Samuelx
Samuelx
2,120 Followers
Please rate this story
The author would appreciate your feedback.
  • COMMENTS
Anonymous
Our Comments Policy is available in the Lit FAQ
Post as:
Anonymous
Share this Story

READ MORE OF THIS SERIES

Similar Stories

In Defense of Difference Let's end the myth that women & men feel the same about sex.in Reviews & Essays
Women Hater Club He's an official member.in Humor & Satire
Who is Hornier? Is it men or women who are more interested in casual sex?in Reviews & Essays
The Dance Room Brawl Rachel & Tom both want the dance room. Only solution? Fight.in Non-Erotic
45 Reasons for Denying Difference Why we pretend women & men feel the same about sex.in Reviews & Essays
More Stories