CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics will recognize longtime administrator and women’s athletics trailblazer Dr. Karol Kahrs by naming a primary meeting and conference room at the Bielfeldt Athletics Administration Building in her honor. The Dr. Karol Kahrs Hall of Fame Room will be dedicated this Friday, September 9, during the Illini Women’s Sports Summit, which, appropriately, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX.
“Dr. Kahrs is an icon, on our campus and across all of college athletics, for the leadership she provided in elevating women’s sports during a pivotal moment in history,” said UI Director of Athletics Josh Whitman. “We are so proud of her deep affiliation with the University of Illinois and the Big Ten Conference, and we are beyond pleased to honor her legacy by naming Bielfeldt’s primary conference space and meeting room in her honor. I did not have the privilege of knowing Dr. Kahrs well, but even in the limited time I had with her, I could feel her intensity, her passion, and her genuine nature. From talking with former student-athletes and coaches, it is evident the impact she had on their experience and the heartfelt respect and appreciation they feel for her, even all these years later. I am glad she will be remembered here in this way, and there has never been a better time than in conjunction with the Title IX 50th anniversary celebration.”
As previously announced, the DIA has also launched the Karol Kahrs Women’s Excellence Fund to support Fighting Illini women’s sport programs as part of its 50th anniversary festivities. Gifts to the fund will be dedicated to three major areas: MAKE A GIFT
- Addressing equipment needs and facility improvements;
- Enhancing training trip opportunities, both domestically and abroad; and
- Enriching personal development opportunities.
Dr. Kahrs, who passed away in 2020, began her career at Illinois in 1966 as an instructor in the College of Physical Education and spent many years coaching women’s sports. In 1974, she moved to the UI Athletics Association to develop the University’s women’s intercollegiate athletics program as Title IX helped lead to changes in women’s sports nationally. At Illinois, Dr. Kahrs later was promoted to associate athletics director and senior woman administrator. Under Dr. Kahrs’s direction and leadership, Illinois was one of the first institutions to be reviewed by the Office of Civil Rights and found to be in compliance with Title IX guidelines in 1981.
Dr. Kahrs retired from the University in 2000 after 36 years of service, including 26 years in the athletics department. During Dr. Kahrs’s distinguished career, she served as President of the National Association of College Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA) in 1998-99, and she was a member of numerous NCAA committees. She also proudly served on the Executive Board of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), which coordinated championship events for women’s athletic programs prior to the NCAA.
Dr. Kahrs served as the first chairperson of the Big Ten Women’s Athletic Administrators from 1974-76, and was a member of the committee that submitted the initial proposal to add women’s athletics to the conference in 1981. In 2014, Dr. Kahrs was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by NACWAA, awarded to administrators who have dedicated their professional careers to advancing women in sport. She is also a member of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame (2006). In 2017, Dr. Kahrs was a member of the inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame class at the University of Illinois.
