‘It’s a tricky question’: Panthers athletics chief encourages examination of diversity in college sports

When Amanda Braun became athletic director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2013, women made up about 1 in 5 athletic directors in college sports.

Today, a decade after she took over as head of athletics for the Panthers, the ratio is about 1 in 4 athletic directors, according to the NCAA.

The Missouri-based Women Leaders in Sports organization is a national group working to further elevate women in college sports. The group recognized Braun as Executive of the Year.

During Braun’s tenure, UW-Milwaukee athletics increased its donors by 45 percentsecured the largest donation in its history and maintained athlete grade point averages at 3.0 or higher, according to the university.

Braun recently appeared on “The morning show» to discuss its national recognition and the promotion of equity in college sports.

“I work hard to encourage not only our women but also our male colleagues within our department – ​​in our league – to view women as leaders,” Braun said.

The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Kate Archer Kent: How could college athletics become a more welcoming and inclusive workplace for women in leadership positions? (({“fid”:”1924588″,”view_mode”:”embed_portrait”,”fields”:{“alt”:”Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the championship game of the college basketball tournament Horizon League NCAA vs. Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya),”headline”: “Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the championship game of the NCAA college basketball tournament NCAA Horizon League vs. Northern Kentucky in Detroit on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. .(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)”, “class”: “media-element file-embed-portrait media-wysiwyg-align-right”, “data-delta”: “1”, “format”: “embed_portrait”, “alignment”: “right”, “field_image_caption(und)(0)(value)”:”%3Cp%3ELe%20University%20of%20Wisconsin -Milwaukee%20Panthers%20mascot%20performs%20before%20the%20Horizon%20League%20NCAA %20college%20basketball%20tournament%20championship%20game%20contre%20the%20Northern%20Kentucky%20in%20Detroit%2C%20tuesday%2C%20mars%2 07 %2C%202017.%20%3Cem%3EPaul%20Sancya%2FAP%20Photo% 3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A”,,”field_image_caption(und)(0)(format)”:”full_html” ,,”field_file_image_alt_text(und)(0)(value)” :”University of Wisconsin -Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the Horizon League NCAA college basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo,”field_file_image_title_text(und)(0)(value)”:”The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the championship game of the NCAA Horizon League college basketball tournament against Northern Kentucky in Detroit on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo”},”type”:”media””, field_deltas”:{“1 “:{“alt”:”The Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the Horizon League NCAA college basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) “,”title”:”The Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the Horizon League NCAA college basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. (AP Photo/ Paul Sancya) “ “class”: “media-element file-embed-portrait media-wysiwyg-align-right”,”data-delta”:”1″,”format”:”embed_portrait”,”alignment”:”right ”,”field_image_caption(und)(0 )(value)” : »%3Cp%3ELe%20University%20of%20Wisconsin-Milwaukee%20Panthers%20mascot%20performe%20avant%20the%20Horizon%20League%20NCAA%20college%20basketball%20tournament %20championship%20game%20contre%20the% 20Northern%20Kentucky%20in%20Detroit%2C%20Mardi%2C%20March%207%2C%202017.%20%3Cem%3EPaul%20Sancya%2FAP%20Photo%3C%2Fem%3E% 3C%2Fp%3E%0A”, ”field_image_caption(und)(0)(format)”:”full_html”,,”field_file_image_alt_text(und)(0)(value)”:”The mascot of the University of Texas Panthers Wisconsin-Milwaukee performs before the championship game of the NCAA Horizon League college basketball tournament. against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo,” “field_file_image_title_text(und)(0)(value)”: “The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs in front of college Horizon League NCAA basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo”}},”link_text”:false,”attributes”:{“alt”: ”The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs before the NCAA Horizon League college basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo “, “title”: “The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers mascot performs in front of the Horizon. NCAA League college basketball tournament championship game against Northern Kentucky in Detroit, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. Paul Sancya/AP Photo, “class”: “media-element file-embed-portrait media- wysiwyg-align-right”, ”data-delta”:”1″}}))

Amanda Braun: That’s the question I think we’re trying to answer, and not just for women but for people of color. How can we create a pipeline that welcomes people regardless of their background and appreciates the difference and diversity they bring? I think this question can really be answered by encouraging people to do it from the beginning.

For me, that’s part of my why. I certainly love being a leader. I am a strategic thinker, a problem solver – everything that comes with organizational leadership. But I also really want women to see other women in these roles.

KAK: You were recognized by the Women Leaders in Sports organization. It seems like mentoring and collaboration are really important in this organization. Will there ever be a day when a specific organization is no longer necessary?

A B: I hope so. It really is – although I think there will always be some uniqueness in our experiences and often only other women can appreciate the intricacies we experience as leaders in any organization, in any sector.

So I think an organization will always be helpful in sharing views and supporting each other in that way. But yes, I certainly hope that we progress until 50 percent of athletic directors at all levels of college athletics are women. That would be great.

KAK: What are these subtleties of leadership on the business side that differentiate women in collegiate sports administration?

A B: I wouldn’t say it’s very different from women’s leadership in general. You need to socialize expectations about how you look or behave. We often walk a tightrope, don’t we? Are you too ambitious or aggressive or are you too indifferent?

I always thought a sense of humor was really important when going through these experiences. Often I take it with a grain of salt and laugh about it. Obviously, if there is a real problem, it must be addressed immediately. But it’s often the subtleties. It’s the people who don’t understand.

I can’t tell you how many times in my 10 years here at UW-Milwaukee, people have said, “So you’re the athletic director of all sports?” And I guess men don’t understand this question. I only respond with grace, like, “Actually, yes, and we have 15 sports programs. »

KAK: Are athletic directors doing enough to give women’s sports more visibility, more coverage and more resources?

A B: I think so, but it depends. We are at the Division I level and our resources are a little greater than in Division II and certainly in Division III, even without football.

We really need to make sure that we’re funding our programs appropriately, and it’s not just men’s programs, but women’s programs as well.

In many of our departments, income generation currently involves sports that are often male-dominated. So we would like to diversify them further and the marketing efforts are there for women’s sports. … We need to get people to cover a little more media exposure that we don’t necessarily create ourselves, and then take full advantage of it when that happens.

KAK: In October, The state Legislature has proposed a Republican-backed measure that would limit college athletes from playing on teams based on the sex they were assigned at birth. If the measure passes the full Legislature, Gov. Tony Evers has vowed to block the bill from becoming law. How do you approach this proposal with the staff and athletes?

A B: Yes, this problem has been around for a while and we have had many conversations, not just with our coaches.

I had a roundtable last year with our head coaches just to hear from them on this topic and do they have any experiences with recruiting and that type of thing. Interestingly, they hadn’t encountered this topic much and, in fact, one of our coaches said, “Well, we’ve had transgender athletes in our sport for decades and now it’s becoming a problem. »

Having been a former student-athlete myself, I can understand this perspective and the difficulties people have with transgender women’s participation in women’s sports. I understand that.

I feel like we can come together and have conversations instead of being so opposite on the issue. Unfortunately, this is what is happening now.

There’s no easy answer in my opinion, but it’s something worth analyzing, worth discussing and really trying to find a solution.

KAK: Is this worth discussing in the legislative environment, in state law?

A B: I can’t really talk about it. I understand why people put it there. I do. That’s where people go to try to do something at that level.

I’m not sure it’s necessary, but it’s advanced. I’ll be curious to see how this evolves. We’re very, very open to our student-athletes about taking care of who they are and making sure they feel safe and included in our athletic department.

But it’s a delicate question.

KAK: We see UW-Green Bay, UW-Oshkosh and other University of Wisconsin System campuses facing budgetary and dismissal of staff. Are athletic departments facing similar financial challenges?

A B: We certainly are, yes. We don’t generate much revenue beyond what we spend. We are therefore fully integrated into the university and face the same types of challenges.

It hasn’t been easy in recent years, but academic support is an area where we absolutely do not want to compromise. So we will find other ways.

We are fortunate to have a wonderful donor base, who have helped us accomplish certain things. I would love to invest more, I would love to grow with things a little more. But right now, it’s really about maintaining the quality of experience that we can provide for our student-athletes.