Mike Muska's office walls are almost bare. A lacrosse stick and fall sports schedules comprise the minimalist decore of the new athletic director's home base. Perhaps he is short on tacks, but more likely he has been too busy.
Between finding a new director of news services and attending Volleyball games, Muska has hardly had time to think. But thinking is what he has been doing since he started at Philips in July.
"I'm not a bull in a china shop," Muska said. "My goal has been to get an appreciation of how things work. So far I've been very slow in making changes."
During the selection process last Spring, student athletes turned out in droves to interrogate the candidates for Athletic Director (AD). The search began last year after former AD Don Hunsinger declined to renew his contract after four years.
Despite the observation period, the gym is already seeing changes. Philips hours have been extended to 11 p.m. on weekdays and teams are getting new jerseys as perks.
Other changes are more subtle. One of Muska's passions is participating in gay rights organizations. "When my partner and I broke up seven years ago, it became important for me to direct my energies in other directions," Muska said. For the last two years, Muska has been vocal in extending the zones of acceptance of gays into the field of athletics.
Last week, Muska participated in a panel discussion with Billy Jean King for which he received national media attention. USA Today reported on Muska and his strides to educate the athletic world on language sensitivity for children in sports.
"Any student athlete in any venue should feel safe at Oberlin in any program. It's in keeping with what we're all about," Muska said.
"I have to believe that there are a lot of gay students who feel uncomfortable with sports. We need to create a safe venue for all student athletes."
Muska's arrival at Oberlin was accompanied by a vicious fax from an anti-gay group from Kansas. The Westboro Baptist Church threatened to picket the "vile stinky leper colony" of Oberlin.
Muska said, "I've dealt with this person before when he picketed Provincetown. His diatribes are just as vicious now. I've got enough confidence with myself. A person with that much hate cannot influence a large number of people."
Muska's vision for Oberlin's athletic department has grown from his life in the world of athletics. A track star in high school, Muska's athletic abilities paid for school at the University of Connecticut. An injury his first year, however, put him out of commission for good in the running department.
To fill in the time, Muska started coaching. "I was coaching while still an undergraduate so I got lots of hands-on experience," Muska said.
After graduating with honors in history, Muska attended the University of Massachusettes receiving a Masters in Sports Administration with an emphasis in sports history. He landed his first full time job at Cornell University as a track coach and served as a liason between admissions and athletics. "This got me on the road to admissions work," Muska said.
Muska left Cornell for a position as a cross country coach and an assistant track coarch at Auburn University. "That was culture shock," Muska said smiling. Muska told of being introduced to a cheering crowd of 80,000 fans. "There was a real thrill of being in your twenties and in big time college athletics," he said.
Muska was named the South East Conference coach of the year while at Auburn, but despite his successes and excitement, he was disheartened by Auburn's lack of academic committment.
"The downside of Auburn was its willingness to sacrifice academic excellence," he said. "So I jumped at Northwestern because it looked like a school that really combined athletics and academics."
Muska intensified track and cross country at Northwestern taking the men's cross country team to second place in the nation, but in 1987, the school began phasing out track in order to allocate more money to football and basketball.
Muska went to Brown University as the assistant director of athletics and worked again with the admissions office. More significantly, though, for the first time Muska felt comfortable enough at Brown to come out with his homosexuality.
"I had six wonderful years at Brown," Muska said, "but as happy as I was, I felt disconnected from the students at the day-to-day level."
Muska then worked at two secondary schools, Milton and Andover, where he said he was able to develop very strong relationships with students. "I had a great job at Milton and no reason to leave. The Oberlin job appealed to me because I could be true to myself and do what I really love," Muska said. "The more I was around Oberlin the more I felt this was the right place for me."
College president Nancy Dye had nothing but praise for the new AD.
"Muska is the best possible athletic director of Oberlin College. He was hired because he presented the best qualifications, experience and the most imaginative ideas about how to improve Oberlin athletics."
Muska is looking forward to working with campus organizations such as the Outing Club, club sports and possibly the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual Union.