Keohane: A leader in the huddle

She could be seen on East Campus watching a field hockey game with her pair of grandchildren. She could be found at the Final Four, hosting a party for the Iron Dukes. She could be heard engaging in three-hour teleconferences to discuss ACC expansion possibilities last summer. She could be spotted asking basketball player Alana Beard simply how everything was. And she also had to run a university.

When President Nan Keohane arrived at Duke in 1993, she inherited an athletic department only one year removed from back-to-back national championships in men's basketball. And even though Duke's athletic campus consisted of just a small cluster of buildings, many of which were in need of renovation, the task of running an athletic program with national prominence may have been a little daunting.

"When she first came, she didn't understand the culture of athletics at Duke University coming from Wellesley, but I think she is a very fast learner," said Athletic Director Joe Alleva, whom Keohane promoted to the post in 1998. "She has learned the culture of athletics and the significance of it on this campus very quickly and embraced it."

The Blue Devils have thrived under Keohane, improving their finish in the Directors' Cup--the broadest measure of a school's athletic competitiveness. Duke has won three national championships under her watch, matching its total over the rest of the University's history. And perhaps most importantly, the school has avoided the major scandals that have rocked athletic departments across the nation.

"She took a leadership role in terms of pressing everybody involved in athletics to think hard about what we are doing and question that," said Kathleen Smith, who, as the faculty athletics representative, has worked closely with Keohane as the liaison between the athletic department and the faculty, especially during the ACC expansion talks last summer.

Keohane has had to contend with a rapidly changing collegiate athletics landscape in an age when many claim emphasis on money and winning is degrading the student-athlete experience across the country.

"The enterprise if you are a student-athlete is very, very different," said Chris Kennedy, senior associate director of athletics. "We had to evaluate where Duke fit in that altered landscape, and should Duke fit in that altered landscape."

After a long evaluation process in which Keohane was an active and critical questioner, in Fall 2002 Duke announced it would maintain its tiered system of breaking financial commitment to specific sports into three levels, with men's and women's basketball and football receiving the most substantial funding. The University reaffirmed that it did not have the resources to be nationally competitive in all sports, but decided it could maintain the status quo, which included a Division IA football program.

Throughout her tenure, Keohane has allowed Duke to play in the facilities arms race, building centers for the basketball, tennis and football programs among others and upgrading countless more. Keohane actively cultivated donors to help athletics raise $152,500,000--the largest portion of which was allocated for annual scholarship support.

But unlike many other departmental capital upgrades, these buildings were not constructed with funding from the University, a sign to some that Keohane was not--and still may not be--entirely comfortable with Duke's strong commitment to athletics.

"The University has been helpful in building projects, but not in the form of cash," said Susan Ross, associate director of athletics for development. "The feeling was that Duke athletics has a body of supporters who could fund the buildings, and since we didn't fail, they didn't have to come to the rescue."

Among the most difficult athletic issues for Keohane has been the football program, which compiled a dismal 29-95 record during her tenure and only once--in 1994--had a winning season. The sport--the most lucrative of all collegiate sports nationally and the one that propelled the expansion of the ACC--has been nothing short of an embarrassment for the University.

During her early years, when she was still getting acclimated to the nuances of the program and its issues, few changes were made to the struggling program--but in the last few years, Keohane has been willing to play.

When the Yoh Football Center--a modern football training facility completed in 2002 that serves as a major magnet for recruits--was already in the works, Keohane called for a straw poll of the Board of Trustees. The vote asked simply if the University would be willing to put more money into football, and the decision was overwhelmingly in favor of trying to build a competitive football program--which, among other things, gave the athletic department approval to significantly increase coaches' salaries.

"The Board has been supportive but not intrusive," Keohane wrote in an e-mail, reflecting on how the Trustees did not pressure her into sweeping changes in an attempt to bolster the program.

Many people, however, think money will not solve all the problems when it comes to football, and the strongest barriers to success are not facilities and coaches but stringent admissions policies and the academic standards of a top-10 academic institution.

In a move that surprised many, Keohane allowed the university to modestly relax admission standards, giving the coaches greater recruiting flexibility. More students can now be accepted at the lower end of the SAT and grade point average range typically allowed for players.

Keohane said when the policy alterations were announced in Fall 2002 that the change was intended to help the University "meet institutional priorities."

During her tenure, questions were also raised about the academic strength of some of the courses taken by members of the men's basketball team. But for the most part Keohane has not had to devote much critical attention to either of Duke's flagship basketball programs, and both have thrived on the court.

Keohane granted men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski a lifetime contract, appointed him special assistant to the president and used the University's most recognizable public figure as a resource on some larger issues, including student life.

She has also personally worked for the projects she deemed important.

"She pushed [for] Schwartz-Butters [Athletic Center] and basketball," Executive Vice President Tallman Trask said. "She pushed around the equity issues in basketball."

Keohane's pushing has paid dividends. The women's basketball program is emblematic of the rise of women's athletics during her tenure. During the last 11 years, Duke created 42 athletic scholarships for women and added programs in women's crew and lacrosse, both of which have seen early success.

Keohane has taken great pride in this improvement, especially when she retired Beard's No. 20 jersey in front of a packed Cameron Indoor Stadium. But with the federal government forcing universities to close the gap between men's and women's athletic programs under Title IX, some of the improvement, especially the additional scholarships, was likely inevitable.

"It was a natural progression that she helped to drive," Alleva said, acknowledging that although it may seem that Keohane boosted the women's programs to the upper echelon, she did not necessarily foster the change. "It was a combination of both."

Throughout her tenure, Keohane championed Duke's institutional values in an age when intercollegiate athletics became increasingly corporate. Duke's leader made the decision to vote against ACC expansion, putting the student-athletes and its coaches ahead of the school's bottom line.

"I think Nan has been one of the greatest supporters of Duke athletics, of the coaches, of the players and of the fans," women's basketball head coach Gail Goestenkors said. "She is one of the most approachable presidents probably anywhere and always takes the time to do the little things, whether it be the notes or a hug or waiting out side a locker room to say congratulations. She does those little things that make you feel great."

Keohane has left her mark on the athletic department and has been considered vital to student-athletes' success in the classroom and between the lines.

"Philosophically she was perfect for Duke athletics," Kennedy said. "She was very supportive of the athletes and coaches in their effort to do things the right way.... She wanted them to succeed, but not to succeed at any cost. She has a very balanced idea of where athletics fits in the mission of the University."