Appointed UT’s first director of women’s intercollegiate athletics in 1976, Knoxville native Gloria Ray was selected from more than 50 candidates and recommended by a search committee composed of faculty, students, and staff. Ray earned the baccalaureate degree from East Tennessee State University and then taught and coached at Stonewall Jackson Junior High School in Orlando. While completing her master’s degree at UT, she coached the UT women’s tennis team to the state intercollegiate title in 1974. She then became assistant director for women’s athletics at Mississippi University for Women.
Ray set the foundation for athletic excellence in women’s competition. When she arrived, she had no office, no staff other than a journalism student, no full-time coaches, and no real budget. She chose the name Lady Vols (abandoning informal appellations such as Volettes); established initially seven sports in which intercollegiate competition would take place (basketball, field hockey, gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, and volleyball); narrowed that to five (dropping field hockey and gymnastics) to take advantage of feeder-school possibilities in Tennessee; hired Pat Summitt; established a budget; and achieved respectability for the program.