Dartmouth Athletic Director Josie Harper today announced her decision to retire at the end of June, according to a College press release. Harper, who has served as athletic director for over seven years, was the first female to fill that position in the Ivy League. She has been a member of the athletics staff at the College for 27 years.
Over the course of Harper's tenure as athletic director, skiing, men's soccer, ice hockey and women's lacrosse have seen success, while the so-called "flagship" sports -- football, men's basketball and baseball -- have struggled.
Harper received national attention in 2006 after she publicly apologized for including the University of North Dakota in a hockey tournament at the College. In a letter published in The Dartmouth, Harper noted that UND's mascot, the Fighting Sioux, would "understandably offend and hurt people within our community." Harper's letter followed a series of controversial incidents on campus, including a themed "Cowboys and Indians" party hosted by the College's crew team, the disruption of a Columbus Day Native American drum ceremony by two intoxicated students and the College's distribution of the 2006 Alumni Fund Calendar, which featured a picture of an alumnus offering an Indian-head cane to a graduating student.
Harper was hired as the women's lacrosse head coach in 1981, became assistant director of athletics in 1987, and was promoted to associate director of athletics in 1990. She was honored as the National Association of College Women Athletic Administrators Division 1-AA Administrator of the Year in 2000, and was named the ECAC Female Athletic Administrator of the Year in 2001.
The College has not yet announced who will serve as Dartmouth's next athletic director, or whether a search will be conducted.
