The Ruth E. Gunden Athletic Scholarship Fund

Shortly after Ruth E. Gunden began her teaching career at Goshen College in 1953, she formed their first intercollegiate women’s basketball team.  But her role went far beyond coaching the team; Ruth also was instrumental in setting up an intercollegiate framework with colleagues from other Indiana colleges.  Initiating the basketball program within the context of the gamut of women’s college sports was an exciting challenge.

Ruth’s family moved to Goshen in January of 1930 so that their children could attend Goshen College.  Ruth, the youngest of nine children was born September 11, 1930.  Their home on Westwood Road was a short walk to Goshen College, from which Ruth graduated in 1952.  She majored in elementary education, and described herself as “minoring in participating in every intramural and literary sport activity going”.  After teaching at a local elementary school for a year, Ruth responded positively to an invitation from then-president Ernest Miller to join the GC faculty in the physical education department.

Ruth credits her brothers for stimulating her interest in athletic achievement.  “I had five brothers older than me.  One pitched baseball and one pitched softball – and if there was no one around, they would throw me in pads and I would catch.  I was groomed for a career like this.”  Her studies for her M.A. (1956) and Ph.D. (1967) at University of Iowa gave her different perspectives for gender equality in sports; she describes the U of I as “a hotbed for women in sports”.  In 1972, almost 20 years after Ruth founded intercollegiate women’s basketball at Goshen College, Title IX mandated equality for women’s sports.  “Title IX legitimized everything we were doing.  It helped move women’s sports along, but we already had it started.”

Ruth coached and taught physical education at Goshen College for 38 years, including serving as the head women’s basketball coach from 1965 to 1981, compiling a record of 123 wins against only 54 losses (.695 winning percentage) in those years.  She also started intercollegiate women’s tennis at GC and was the head tennis coach from 1972 to 1978 and then again from 1980 to 1985.  From 1970 to 1973 she was also the head women’s volleyball coach.  During her many years at Goshen College, she held many state-wide and national leadership roles in organizations that oversaw and promoted women’s sports.  She accomplished many “first woman” milestones including that of chairperson of the physical education department at Goshen College in 1977.

Reflecting on the role of physical activity, Ruth described her personal philosophy:  “I believe in the totality of a person, the interrelatedness of the mind, body and spirit.  A denial in one area will affect all areas.”