{{short description|American athletics administrator}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Donnis Thompson | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date ={{Birth date|1933|4|1}} | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois | death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|2|2|1933|4|1}} | death_place = | education = B.A., 1955, George Williams College <br> University of Northern Colorado | awards = NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award <br> YWCA Leadership Award <br> Girl Scout Council of Hawai'i Women of Distinction | occupation = | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = }} '''Donnis Hazel Thompson''' (April 1, 1933 – February 2, 2009) was an American professor of health, physical education, and recreation at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and was the university's first women's athletic director. At the University of Hawaii, she started the Rainbow Wahine program. In 1981, Thompson was elected the State of Hawaii Department of Education school superintendent.
==Early life== Thompson was born on April 1, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois.<ref name = "obit">{{cite web |title=FORMER UH WOMEN'S A.D. DR. DONNIS THOMPSON PASSES AWAY |url=https://hawaiiathletics.com/news/2009/2/2/GEN_0202095128.aspx?path=gen |website=hawaiiathletics.com |access-date=December 28, 2019 |date=February 2, 2009}}</ref> She attended Carter Elementary School and St. Elizabeth High School where she participated in swimming, track and field, and cheerleading.<ref name = "Ebony">{{cite book |title=Ebony |date=March 1963 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company |pages=53–56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u48FA0TY0MEC&q=Donnis+Thompson+chicago&pg=PA53 |access-date=December 28, 2019}}</ref> After high school, Thompson enrolled at George Williams College from which she graduated in 1955.<ref name = "blackpast">{{cite web |last1=Barbee-Wooten |first1=Daphne |title=DONNIS HAZEL THOMPSON (1933-2009) |url=https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/thompson-donnis-hazel-1933-2009/ |website=blackpast.org |access-date=December 28, 2019 |date=September 16, 2009}}</ref>
Thompson was an accomplished shot put thrower, finishing 3rd at the 1953 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in that event.<ref>{{Brinkster|7409|sex=f}}</ref>
==Career== In 1961, Thompson started the Rainbow Wahine sports program by forming a track and field team. However, she struggled with the unequal treatment female athletes were subjected to prior to the passing of Title IX.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baxter |first1=Kim |title=Rainbow Wahine mark 40 years since Title IX |url=http://www.hawaii.edu/malamalama/2011/10/title-ix/ |website=hawaii.edu |access-date=December 28, 2019 |date=October 26, 2011}}</ref> In the team's inaugural season, Thompson's teaching salary equalled $5,000, with an added $700 for coaching.<ref name = "Miller">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ann |title=The roots of an athletic revolution |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2001/Aug/26/sp/sp03a.html |access-date=December 28, 2019 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |date=August 26, 2011}}</ref> In 1962, Thompson was elected as coach to United States National Track Team, which competed against Russia.<ref>{{cite news|title=Reds are picked|date=July 18, 1962|newspaper=Findlay Republican Courier|location=Ohio|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/sports-clipping-jul-18-1962-1485900/}}{{free access}}</ref>
As a professor of health, physical education, and recreation, she taught a course entitled "Physical Fitness for Women", where she introduced weight training, using bottles of bleach instead of weights to keep it non-threatening.<ref name = "Miller"/> However, when Thompson left the University of Hawaii to pursue her PhD at Northern Colorado University, the track team was unable to be supported and eventually disbanded.<ref name = "Lee">{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Stanley |title=Her sights were set on gender equity |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jul/13/sp/hawaii907130335.html |access-date=December 28, 2019 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |date=July 13, 2009}}</ref>
Upon returning to the University of Hawaii, Thompson worked alongside Congresswoman Patsy Mink to write the legislation for Title IX to end discrimination on the basis of gender.<ref name = "Tsai">{{cite news |last1=Tsai |first1=Stephen |title=Donnis Thompson, UH women's sports pioneer |url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Feb/03/ln/hawaii902030343.html |access-date=December 28, 2019 |publisher=Honolulu Star-Advertiser |date=February 3, 2009}}</ref> Soon after the passing of Title IX in 1972, she was appointed the university's first women's athletic director, on a budget of $5,000.<ref name = "Tsai"/> A few years later, in 1975, Thompson requested a budget increase to $231,000, but received only $131,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Highlights of Significant CSW Moments in History |url=http://hawaii.edu/offices/op/csw/documents/25years-brochure.pdf |website=hawaii.edu |access-date=December 28, 2019 |page=2 |date=2011}}</ref> With this amount, she hired Dave Shoji in 1975 to become a part-time women's volleyball coach on a salary of $2,000 per season.<ref name = "Tsai"/> The following year, Thompson began charging for admission to women's volleyball events, which was a revolutionary idea for the time.<ref name = "Lee"/>
On April 5, 1981, the State of Hawaii dedicated that day as "Dr. Donnis Thompson Day" to honor the impact of her contributions to women’s athletics.<ref name = "blackpast"/> As a result of her success, Thompson was named the State of Hawaii Department of Education school superintendent, before being terminated in 1984 for a lack of long range planning and policy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Hawaiian Workers Threaten Strike|date=February 17, 1984|newspaper=Farmington Daily Times|location=New Mexico|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/politics-clipping-feb-17-1984-1485897/}}{{free access}}</ref> Prior to leaving the University of Hawaii, Thompson helped add five more women's sports and achieve a National Volleyball Championship title.<ref name = "Tsai"/> She returned to teach at the University of Hawaii after her termination from 1984 until 1991.<ref name = "Lee"/>
On October 28, 2007, artist Jan-Michelle Sawyer unveiled a statue honoring Thompson in the Stan Sheriff Center.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sculpture Dedication and Unveiling Honoring Dr. Donnis Thompson |url=https://www.uhfoundation.org/news/photos/sculpture-dedication-and-unveiling-honoring-dr-donnis-thompson |website=uhfoundation.org |access-date=December 28, 2019 |date=October 28, 2007}}</ref> The next year, she was honored with a NACWAA Lifetime Achievement Award.<ref>{{cite web |title=2008 Lifetime Achievement Honorees|url=https://www.womenleadersincollegesports.org/WL/For_Members/lifetime-achievement-honoree-bios/2008-Lifetime-Achievement-Honorees.aspx |website=womenleadersincollegesports.org |access-date=December 28, 2019}}</ref> Thompson died on February 2, 2009, at the age of 75.<ref name = "obit"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Donnis}} Category:1933 births Category:2009 deaths Category:American track and field coaches Category:University of Northern Colorado alumni Category:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty Category:Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine track and field coaches Category:Sportspeople from Chicago Category:Writers from Chicago Category:American women non-fiction writers Category:American women academics Category:American women shot putters Category:20th-century American sportswomen