Northcutt Retires After Almost Four Decades
By Stephanie Ramirez | Wednesday, September 29, 2010 8:45 AM
Former Executive Director William Farney, current Executive Director Charles Breithaupt and former Executive Director Bailey Marshall congratulate former Policy Director Bonnie Northcutt for her dedication and commitment to UIL for the past four decades.
Photo by Mary Mendez
For almost 40 years, the University Interscholastic League has been lucky to have Bonnie Northcutt as a part of its team. Reflecting on Northcutt’s tenure at the UIL, there is only one word that could describe her position at the organization: pioneer.
Northcutt grew up in the Texas Hill Country town of Barksdale with her five siblings. Her love and admiration for the UIL began when she was an elementary student participating in academic events. Then, Northcutt began playing tennis, basketball, volleyball and track. Her success and love for sports connected her even closer to UIL.
While Northcutt was playing in her high school basketball game against a local college, the college coach noticed her talent. At the end of the game, he called her over and told her that after she graduated, she had a scholarship waiting for her. Upon graduation from Nueces Canyon High School, Northcutt went to South West Junior College on an athletic scholarship for tennis and basketball. A year later, Northcutt left school to marry her husband, Norvell. They moved to College Station where he attended school and she worked at the medical center.
Northcutt and her husband eventually settled in Austin where she returned to school and finished her studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1972, Northcutt reconnected with the UIL and was hired as a part-time administrative clerk by then-Athletic Director, Dr. Bailey Marshall. She was hired at a time when women did not typically hold administrative positions. Former UIL Executive Director Dr. Rhea Williams reluctantly agreed to hire Northcutt saying “she looked like a woman who wouldn’t cause trouble with the superintendents.”
When Northcutt started at the League, she received calls from coaches and administrators looking for answers about UIL rules on a daily basis. When the coach would ask to speak to a man, Northcutt would simply state that they were unavailable, but that she was authorized to answer any questions they might have. It didn’t take long for people to realize that she knew the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules as good as or better than any male employee of the League.
“First, Bonnie was a very professional and knowledgeable voice for the League,” said former UIL Executive Director Dr. William Farney. “Secondly, she was a role model especially for girls and women. She was a pioneer showing how effective women could be in positions like hers at a time when not many women across the U.S. held them. Genius knows no gender. We know that now, but we didn’t always know that, and Bonnie proved that at the League.”
In 1995, Farney created the position of Policy Director. Northcutt would be the first to ever hold the position.
“It was never really a goal of mine to be an administrator,” Northcutt said. “I really just happened to be at the right place at the right time. I feel very lucky and blessed to have been able to be where I needed to be to end up where I did.”
While at the UIL, Northcutt was instrumental in the growth of new contests and competitions, the waiver process and the adaptation of the current awards system. The previous system consisted of ribbons being given out in plastic boxes to the winners, as opposed to the current practice of draping the medals around the necks of student-competitors.
“I have been most proud of all the additions of activities since I’ve been at the League,” Northcutt said. “It was great watching the ideas for new events come to the forefront and then watching them be enacted.”
In addition to her work with the UIL, Northcutt was also involved with the National Federation of State High School Associations on several committees, as well as on the United States Olympic Games Preparation Committee in 1981.
Now that she has retired, Northcutt plans on spending her extra time with her grandkids, two daughters and husband. She also plans on playing much more tennis than she’s been able to in the past due to her busy schedule. Northcutt intends to take courses in dispute resolution at the University of Texas School of Law or through Travis County.
“I think working on dispute resolution would be a very worthy way of volunteering my time,” Northcutt said. “I think my work at the UIL has helped prepare me for that.”
Northcutt has always been a strong believer in what the UIL stands for.
“When you grow up in a small Texas town, UIL activities are the lifeblood of the community,” Northcutt said.
Northcutt believes so strongly in the UIL’s mission that it was one of the most important decisions her and her husband ever made when raising their two daughters.
“We always told the girls that they had to participate in something, and that once they started, no matter how hard it got, they had to finish,” Northcutt said. “I think it’s one of the most important lessons we can teach our kids, and I feel so blessed that they could learn it through the UIL.”
To say Northcutt will be missed is an understatement, and she equally shares the sentiment in leaving.
“I’ll miss my colleagues the most, but I will say that I’ve seen the dedication that all the folks in the office work with, so I know they’ll be just fine,” Northcutt said. “Leaving is bittersweet.”