Law Professor: Would a Woman in Penn State's Athletic Administration Have Made a Difference?
November 21, 2011
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Would the presence of a woman in the leadership of Penn State's athletic program administration have made a difference in the still-unfolding sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the campus? Dionne Koller, associate professor in the University of Baltimore School of Law and director of the Center for Sport and the Law, asks this question in an op-ed in the Nov. 21 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"At heart, the Penn State story shows why representation of women in athletic programs is not just about statistics or abstract notions of 'equality,' Koller argues in the piece. "A different voice, shaped by different gender experiences, might have seen the situation not from the position of a 'brotherhood' attempting to preserve the power and image and revenue that were propping up Penn State's football franchise, but instead by recognizing the gravity of the victimization that was taking place."
Koller's scholarly interests include sports and the law and health law. She is a frequent commentator on issues related to sports and the law and has provided pro bono representation for Olympic athletes involved in eligibility disputes. She serves on the United States Anti-Doping Agency's Anti-Doping Review Board and on the Executive Board for the Sports Law Section of the Association of American Law Schools.
Read "It's a Guy Thing at Penn State, and That's a Problem."
The University of Baltimore is a member of the University System of Maryland and comprises the School of Law, the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Public Affairs and the Merrick School of Business.