Following efforts by Fullerton College President Cynthia Olivo to embrace the softball team’s claims of inequality and potential Title IX violations, a new Senior Coordinator of Athletics, Marcia Foster, has been hired and she has assumed her new role as of Sept. 15, 2023, with the intention of promoting gender equality in all Hornets’ sports.
Foster, who served as head coach for Hornets Women’s Basketball from 2013 to 2022, is the first holder of this newly created position at Fullerton College, which according to Olivo, has been created due to the college’s efforts to enforce Title IX in the institution’s sports teams in general.
“The position came about as a result of working with experts in Title IX and following the recommendations on how to create a structure and a process to do even better than we are doing now,” said Olivo.
Alongside holding the coordinator position, Foster is also leading two committees managing Gender Equity in athletic facilities and general athletics on campus at Fullerton College.
The hiring of Foster coincided with a “Title IX Training and Review” event that took place for all FC coaches and athletic administrators on Sept. 15. This meeting was held at what is now called the Cruz Reynoso Building. Speakers at the training included Olivo, Commissioner of the Bay Valley Conference Ellen O’Connor, Commissioner of the Orange Empire Conference Albert Gasparian, and Zachary Pelchat who is the Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.
Foster entered this position with a history of advocating for marginalized populations by her creation of support projects such as “Team together” and “Socks and Sweats”, in stops at FC, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Caltech, and Arizona State where she worked either as assistant or head women’s basketball coach during her 32-year career.
Olivo expressed that Foster was indicated for this position, due to her experience and leadership skills. “The range of leadership that we have in Marcia includes someone who is student centered and engaged in creating new experiences for our student athletes to have community service opportunities, connect directly to faculty, and to address social injustice,” said Olivo.
The decision of giving Foster this position was also discussed with Hornets Athletics’ coaches and faculty members, and she was pointed to as the best fit by many of her former peers Olivo added.
Co-Head Coach of Hornets Softball Marian Mendoza has repeatedly claimed there may have been potential Title IX violations towards her program including there being no running water or restrooms near the softball field, the softball team not having a locker room to change in, and the lack of maintenance with the softball facilities like the bating cages and bullpen.
The Hornet reported on these original issues on April 10, 2023. Olivo responded two days after publication with an in-person meeting of Mendoza and head coach Crystal Aguirre. She vowed then to hire a third-party collegiate athletic expert to assess the allegations and all FC facilities. This was documented by The Hornet on April 19, 2023 in a story giving more detail and Olivo’s response.
Mendoza said she is pleased to have Foster as a new leader in the athletics department. “She will be a great leader in our department,” said Mendoza. “In my opinion, this was definitely a smart move by President Olivo.”
Mendoza also expressed approval of Olivo’s work on making decisions that can enforce Title IX at Fullerton College. “We are happy by the moves she is making towards equity and equality,” said Mendoza.
Olivo said in conclusion that though the college is doing a great job enacting Title IX, the hiring of Foster will help the institution to keep improving on the matter.
*The story has been updated with additional context*
