LEANNE GROTKE AWARD
The Leanne Grotke Award perpetuates the ideals Leanne Grotke Andreas embodied in her years serving Indiana University as a trailblazer and pioneer leader for women’s athletics. This honor is bestowed on living persons whose service has made exceptionally outstanding contributions to IU’s women’s athletics program and is the highest honor of its kind given by the university.
About Leanne L. Grotke
Leanne L. Grotke Andreas graduated from Bowling Green State University, where she played basketball and field hockey. Soon thereafter, she arrived at IU in 1967 as the coordinator of intramural and extramural women’s sports. At that time, the women’s teams shared one set of uniforms and each intercollegiate team received just $150 for the year. Leanne was a champion for improving women’s athletics. She was an outspoken advocate for the teams, which at that time included field hockey, basketball, tennis, golf, softball, volleyball, swimming/diving, and gymnastics.
In 1969, Grotke played a pivotal role in establishing the Indiana Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Organization (IWISO). The foundational premise behind the IWISO was that competitive sports would enhance women’s college experience, and the organization offered competitive opportunities to highly skilled female athletes. The guidelines were simple: the program should be supervised by a faculty member in the Department of Physical Education, qualified women should teach, coach, and officiate athletic contests, and that funding for women’s sports at all levels—intramural, extramural and intercollegiate—should come from the university.
Within two years, Leanne helped establish Indiana Women’s Intercollegiate Sports Organization to provide high level competitive opportunities for skilled women. The foundational principle behind IWISO was that competitive sports was as valuable for women as men. The organization advocated for universities to fund women’s sports both intramurally and at the intercollegiate level, and professionalized credentials for coaches and officials.
By 1971, IWISO became The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women—and was a national organization–the women's equivalent of the NCAA. Soon thereafter, when Title IX legislation passed, Indiana became the first Big Ten school to name an Athletic Director for Women, when Leanne Grotke was hired as the first Associate Athletic Director for Women’s Athletics.
The Leanne Grotke Award was created to commemorate all of Leanne's contributions to women’s athletics. This award salutes the principles and values Leanne stands for. It is the highest honor that the “I” Association can bestow on a living female letter winner. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and service to Indiana University and its Athletic program as an alumnus.
