Hope College s first women s athletic director dies after battle with cancer
Hope College
and last updated 2021-04-09 13:09:19-04
HOLLAND, Mich. â Hope Collegeâs first director of womenâs athletics, Anne E. Irwin, has died at age 79 after a battle with cancer.
Irwin died April 3 at her home in Fennville.
It was her wish to be cremated and interred at the Fennville Cemetery without a memorial or funeral service, according to a news release Friday.
She arrived at Hope College in 1976, right when Title IX â the mandate that required equal treatment of men and women at federally funded educational institutions â had been passed in 1972.
Hope Collegeâs First Womenâs AD Dies By Gary Stevens
FENNVILLE, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) â A pioneer at Hope College has died.
Officials with the Holland-based school announced on Friday, April 9, 2021, the death of Anne E. Irwin, the first director of womenâs athletics at Hope, from the effects of cancer at the age of 79.
During her tenure, from 1976 to her retirement in 2003, she created 10 interscholastic womenâs teams, with participation growing to three fold in that span. Dr. Irwin was also the head coach of the Flying Dutch in basketball, softball and field hockey. She also developed Hopeâs intramural sports program to the point that about half of the student body were participating when she stepped down.