Abstract
Title IX began the change of integrating women's sports into universities, but it was up to each university's athletic administration, external media sources, and public relations practitioners to determine how female athletes and sports were supported and publicized. In 1976, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah hired Ellen Larsen as its first female sports information director responsible for women's sports. Through her 19 years as a sports information director at BYU, Larsen was an advocate for her athletes and helped pave the way for future female athletic administration roles. While there is plenty of literature on male sports information directors, literature on female sports information directors is thin. Even less has been published on pioneer women in this role. This paper will tell the story of Ellen Larsen, BYU's first female sports information director, and describe her pioneering impact in the publicizing of women's athletics at BYU from 1976 to 1995.
Degree
MA
College and Department
Fine Arts and Communications; Communications
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Schlenker, Kiana, "The Pioneering Efforts of Ellen Larsen: The First Female Sports Information Director at Brigham Young University" (2023). Theses and Dissertations. 9990.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/9990
Date Submitted
2023-06-12
Document Type
Thesis
Handle
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd12828
Keywords
Sports Information Director, Sports Media, Women in Sports, Title IX, Women's Collegiate Athletics
Language
english