Sue M. Durrant Papers, 1956-2006

Sue Durrant was born in Salt Lake City, UT in 1937. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Utah (1959), a master's degree from Washington State University (1962) and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University (1976).

Durrant joined the faculty at Washington State University in 1962. She served as the head coach for women's volleyball from 1962 to 1975, as the instructor for the Fish Fans synchronized swim group from 1962 to 1968, and as head coach for women's basketball from 1971 to 1982. In addition to her coaching and teaching duties, Durrant was instrumental in implementing the provisions of Title IX at Washington State University, serving on numerous committees. She helped establish the Northwest College Women's Sports Association (NCWSA) and was its president in 1970-71. This organization became Region IX of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Title IX, passed in 1972, guaranteed women equal access to athletic opportunities. In 1978 Durrant became one of the lead plaintiffs in the case Blair v. WSU, in which student athletes and faculty members sued the university for equal opportunities for women. The case was tried in 1982. The initial decision, though in favor of the plaintiffs, exempted football from the calculations. This decision was appealed to the WA state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in 1987 that football must be included.

In 1983 Durrant became the first delegate from Washington State University to the Bryn Mawr Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration. From 1986 to 1989 she served as faculty representative to the state legislature in Olympia, and in 1986-1987 she was president of the Association for Faculty Women (AFW) at WSU. From 1990 to 1992 she served as chair of the Washington Council of Faculty Representatives. In 2001 she became the first recipient of the Samuel H. Smith Leadership Award, given by the AFW in recognition of her many years of dedication to the advocacy of equal status for women in the university.