When Joe Paterno used to hold press conferences, no women were allowed in the room.
This was the case for Mary Jo Haverbeck, who for decades has had a vision of being accepted into the sports world despite her gender.
Haverbeck spoke Wednesday afternoon in front of a group people at Penn State's All-Sports Museum. Women belong in sports, Haverbeck said, and she has been fighting an uphill battle for more than half of a century to integrate females into mainstream sports.
After years of winning some of the nation's most prestigious publishing awards, in 1995 she was the first woman inducted to the College Sports Information Directors of America's (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame. A mere five years later, Haverbeck won CoSIDA's Arch Ward award, considered the Heisman Trophy of sports information.
Haverbeck, who earned her master's degree from Penn State in 1976, spoke about her long history in sports and the challenges she faced because of her gender. Even as far back as high school, Haverbeck fought to get women's varsity sports established. Despite failing, she did not give up on her aspirations.
Although the popularity of women's sports may not match that of men's, the progress made has been substantial.
"[When I started] men went into the locker room and talked to players one-on-one while the women waited outside," Haverbeck said. "We would have to wait for the players to come out and hope they talked to us."
Women at this period in time were at a serious disadvantage. Competing with male reporters who were granted access to locker rooms and press boxes made it extremely difficult for women.
" 'No women or children.' Those were the stamps that used to be posted in the Beaver Stadium press box," Haverbeck said with a smile. "I still have one."
Despite the growth she has seen over the years, Haverbeck still feels the playing field for women is uneven. She explained how women's teams do not get the exposure they deserve.
Haverbeck argued there are many ways to boost the public's interest in women athletics, although they are not being utilized.
"Television is so important to the growth of anything," Haverbeck said.
She continued to voice the importance of commercials and the lack of investment by big corporations.
"Those companies have not flocked to women's sports," Haverbeck said.
Haverbeck's success has been improbable. Her contributions have paved the way for some of the best female athletes and reporters today, but she does not intend to stop.
"I'm very optimistic about the rise of women athletics," Haverbeck said.
