Donnis Thompson

Thompson was born on April 1, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois.[1] She attended Carter Elementary School and St. Elizabeth High School where she participated in swimming, track and field, and cheerleading.[2] After high school, Thompson enrolled at George Williams College from which she graduated in 1955.[3]

In 1961, Thompson started the Rainbow Wahine sports program by forming a track and field team. However, she struggled with the unequal treatment female athletes were subjected to prior to the passing of Title IX.[4] In the team's inaugural season, Thompson's teaching salary equalled $5,000, with an added $700 for coaching.[5] In 1962, Thompson was elected as coach to United States National Track Team, which competed against Russia.[6]

As a professor of health, physical education, and recreation, she taught a course entitled "Physical Fitness for Women", where she introduced weight training, using bottles of bleach instead of weights to keep it non-threatening.[5] However, when Thompson left the University of Hawaii to pursue her PhD at Northern Colorado University, the track team was unable to be supported and eventually disbanded.[7]

Upon returning to the University of Hawaii, Thompson worked alongside Congresswoman Patsy Mink to write the legislation for Title IX to end discrimination on the basis of gender.[8] Soon after the passing of Title IX in 1972, she was appointed the university's first women's athletic director, on a budget of $5,000.[8] A few years later, in 1975, Thompson requested a budget increase to $231,000, but received only $131,000.[9] With this amount, she hired Dave Shoji in 1975 to become a part-time women's volleyball coach on a salary of $2,000 per season.[8] The following year, Thompson began charging for admission to women's volleyball events, which was a revolutionary idea for the time.[7]

On April 5, 1981, the State of Hawaii dedicated that day as "Dr. Donnis Thompson Day" to honor the impact of her contributions to women’s athletics.[3] As a result of her success, Thompson was named the State of Hawaii Department of Education school superintendent, before being terminated in 1984 for a lack of long range planning and policy.[10] Prior to leaving the University of Hawaii, Thompson helped add five more women's sports and achieve a National Volleyball Championship title.[8] She returned to teach at the University of Hawaii after her termination from 1984 until 1991.[7]

On October 28, 2007, artist Jan-Michelle Sawyer unveiled a statue honoring Thompson in the Stan Sheriff Center.[11] The next year, she was honored with a NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award.[12] Thompson died on February 2, 2009, at the age of 75.[1]