Supporting student-athletes exemplifies Shirley Baskin and Ellen O'Connor's service to Title IX
See all honorees on the 3C2A Title IX Tribute Page
SACRAMENTO - The month of April honors National Student-Athlete Day, founded in 1987 by the Institute for Sport and Social Justice (formerly known as the National Consortium for Academics and Sports). It’s a day to celebrate the outstanding achievements of student-athletes who achieve excellence in academics and athletics, and who make significant contributions to their schools and communities.
Shirley Baskin and Ellen O’Connor exemplify the 3C2A in terms of supporting student-athletes to ensure those achievements were possible. Both individuals devoted their professional careers to supporting student-athletes, so join us in celebrating their achievements for the month of April.
Shirley Baskin, Dean of Behavioral Sciences, Athletic Director, Academic Counselor, Commissioner
A legendary figure that dedicated her entire career to California Community Colleges, Shirley Yamakoshi Baskin led both the Bay Valley Conference and Los Medanos Athletic Department. A true stalwart, Shirley’s first foray into breaking barriers in sports came when she attended Reedley High School where she lettered in baseball in 1968 as the team’s first female scorekeeper.
Prior to the passage of Title IX women were not able to qualify for a letter in sports. Shirley went on to Cal State Hayward, now Cal State East Bay, and was the first ever female student body president. After graduation she was hired to help open Los Medanos College (LMC) in Pittsburg in 1974 as the college’s first Director of Special Programs. She moved into the position of Dean of Behavioral Sciences in 1982 and the position of athletic director was included under that title. She quickly found that the athletic side of her job was the one that most appealed to her and she continued to be the athletic director when she moved into a position in counseling in 1997.
Shirley focused on working with the student-athletes and when she decided to retire the college hired a full-time counselor who would focus on supporting student-athletes, as they had realized the value of this support thanks to Shirley.
Shirley worked at Los Medanos College for 40 years, retiring from academia in 2014. She was the school’s athletic director from 1982 until 2005. As athletic Director, Shirley made it a point to attend as many off-campus games as possible for the many sports played at LMC. Weekends often found Shirley and her family traveling for football games and she got her husband and both of her daughters involved in scorekeeping as well as working at various sporting events.
Shirley became the Commissioner of the Bay Valley Conference in 2005 until she retired from that position in 2019. She loved working as the commissioner, collaborating with AD’s and coaches in the conference. Shirley was also highly involved in the Northern California Football Conference (NCFC) and was the first female athletic director to serve as president of the NCFC.
While Shirley is no longer with us, she always encouraged women in sports, both as athletes and as leaders. She worked hard to break through several barriers over the years as the “first woman in the room” so that others would be able to follow suit.
Ellen O’Connor, Associate Athletic Director, Faculty, Women’s Basketball Head Coach
A 3C2A leader in applying and promoting Title IX, Ellen O’Connor has dedicated her life to the ongoing effort to bring forward gender equity and inclusion.
The Northern California native attended the University of California, Berkeley while competing as a women’s basketball student-athlete. Her next stop was the University of California, Davis where Ellen joined the collegiate coaching ranks.
She reflected that, “Pam Gill-Fisher was an amazing mentor while I was a graduate student at UC Davis. She was an excellent role model who demonstrated the importance of taking on leadership roles within the institution she served as well as within the athletic organizations that served our students. She taught me to ‘get involved and try to make a difference.’ I saw the same commitment to leadership in Pat MacPhee at Santa Barbara City College. Progress doesn't happen without foresight, networking, and passion for improvement.”
Participation opportunities taught other skills as well., “(I learned) to follow my interests in kinesiology as a student, but also develop leadership skills. I was involved in the Women's Athletic Department decision-making as a member of the ‘captain's council’ while I was a student at Cal-Berkeley. Being able to provide input on how the Women's Athletic Department was run while being a student-athlete was an empowering experience, provided tremendous insight into servant leadership, and reinforced the importance of diverse representation.”
As we look towards further expansion of gender equity Ellen shares her thoughts. “We need more full-time women coaches and women administrators, particularly women of color. Representation was an important reason I chose my path; others showed me it was possible. We need more diversity within the 3C2A to reflect and voice our student-athletes' experiences and let our students see that leadership positions can be their future.”
Ellen’s illustrious career in collegiate athletics leaves a tremendous legacy encompassing gender equity and inclusion. She has mentored and guided countless student-athletes, coaches, and administrators. A trailblazer and leader, she has supported future women leaders in collegiate sports but more specifically the 3C2A.