Clutching the NCAA Championship trophy in one hand while wiping
the tears from her eyes with the other, Betsy Stephenson stood in
the back of the gymnastics press conference Friday night, looking,
well, human.
It’s only in quiet moments like these that Stephenson lets
her guard down, that she reveals her true personality.
No, the real Stephenson is not the stiff, rigid administrator
who pauses mid-sentence for several seconds to consider her word
choice when addressing controversial subject matter. Instead,
she’s a champion of the small sports, respected by all, but
beloved by those who are closest to her.
Stephenson, associate director of athletics, who will leave UCLA
in June to take over as athletic director at Division III Emory
University, has been every bit as instrumental as any player or
coach in maintaining a winning tradition throughout her 8 years in
Westwood.
No, she didn’t land a twisting double yurchenko vault on
Friday night, just like she didn’t record an out at last
year’s softball world series, or score a goal at the
men’s college cup.
But ask athletic department officials except maybe Stephenson,
and they would tell you just how significant her contributions have
been.
“Betsy is the glue that holds this department
together,” gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos Field said.
“She’s a dear friend, a great boss and someone who I
can always come and talk to when I need an honest
answer.”
Publicly, Stephenson’s name often carries a negative
connotation, if it is even recognizable at all. She usually appears
in print only after a coach has been hired or fired or perhaps if a
scandal rocks the athletic department.
While that is the nature of her job, the reality is that UCLA
has been lucky to have her.
That so many of the 16 championships the school has captured
during Stephenson’s tenure are in sports she oversees is no
coincidence.
Coaches want to win for Stephenson because she’s not just
an administrator. She’s their friend.
When Stephenson is among people with whom she is comfortable,
her defensive mechanisms seem to crumble. She is warm, personable
and fun-loving ““ everything she is not with the media when
controversy strikes.
Her close ties to the UCLA gymnastics program were apparent in
her every smile, every shout, every high-five Friday night.
Long after the meet ended, a teary-eyed Stephenson mingled with
the gymnasts, offering warm embraces to some and hearty
congratulations to all.
Here was a woman often described as shrewd and calculating,
moved to tears by the team’s accomplishments.
Stephenson, the last person to leave the press conference,
lingered as if savoring what could be her final championship at
UCLA.
Still cradling the Bruins’ latest NCAA trophy, she
reminisced about her first, also courtesy of the gymnastics team
back in 1997.
“I didn’t know what was happening at the
time,” Stephenson recalled. “I thought we were losing
by 48 points when we were really just a whole rotation behind. It
was only my second meet ever. I didn’t know how we were going
to get all those points back.”
So at the time she wasn’t that gymnastics savvy.
The qualities that make her such a good administrator were still
evident, even then.
“When we won our first championship, she was giddy,”
Kondos Field said. “She carried the trophy out to the parking
lot, and she would not let it go.”
Stephenson, who was passed up in favor of Dan Guerrero for the
role of UCLA athletic director in 2002, has dreamed of running her
own program for many years.
That means while leaving UCLA for Emory will be a somber moment
for her, career-wise, it’s something that she has to do.
“Their colors are blue and gold,” Stephenson said,
“so I don’t have to change my wardrobe.”
That’s good. UCLA colors suit her just fine.
E-mail Eisenberg at jeisenberg@media.ucla.edu.