First, a disclaimer.

Mark Murphy may very well be Northwestern’s Moses, a leader who can squeegee lawsuit and scandal off the Wildcats’ windshield and restore respectability to a program crippled by off-field disrepute. Murphy has the credentials, with three degrees and a decade atop a decent program at Colgate. He also understands the student-athlete and is more than willing to be “the public representative” for NU athletics, two characteristics this department sorely needs.

Donning the purple lettermen’s jacket at Wednesday’s news conference, Murphy looks like an ideal fit for NU.

That said, University President Henry Bienen had the chance to make a statement with this hire, a declaration that not enough university heads have made: A woman will run my Division I athletic program.

At least one prominent female athletic administrator was a finalist for NU’s opening, and another had been seriously considered during the search process.

Cary Groth, athletic director at Northern Illinois, confirmed Tuesday that she had been a finalist for the NU job. An internal e-mail in the NU administration hinted that Debra Gore-Mann, a black woman who is currently the acting athletic director at Stanford, was also discussed for the position.

Since Groth took over as athletic director at Northern Illinois in 1994, she has resurrected the Huskies program. She built a new basketball arena, renovated the football stadium and brought in football coach Joe Novak and basketball coach Rob Judson, who was the runner-up to Bruce Weber for the vacant Illinois job. Groth is also one of only five female athletic directors at schools that play Division I-A football.

In only four years at Stanford, Gore-Mann has reached the top of the best athletic department in the country. As senior associate athletic director for finance and operations, Gore-Mann manages the $45 million athletic budget and reviews all contracts involving the department. When athletic director Ted Leland needed some time off, he chose her to run the show.

I chatted with Groth and Gore-Mann and was sold on their capabilities. Both have the charm, intellect and expertise to handle the rigors of a Big Ten program. They understand facilities management, fundraising, finances and how Division I-A football impacts a program.

Bienen knew this, but he went with Murphy, a white male.

“For me, when we go to hire, we go to hire the best person that meets our needs,” Bienen said. “I think we had some attractive women candidates and earlier on we had an attractive minority candidate as well. … We just throw the net broadly, but we don’t say we’re going to hire this or that in terms of some particular set of qualifications. We were completely ready to hire a woman, and we could have.”

But he didn’t, and another opportunity for female advancement in athletics was wiped out.

Bienen maintains that Murphy was the best candidate. That may be so, but way too many university presidents have uttered the same company line when choosing between qualified male and female candidates to head their athletic programs.

According to the 2002 Acosta-Carpenter study on women in intercollegiate sports, only 27 women head Division I programs.

The study also shows an average of just 1.59 female administrators in Division I athletic departments. Often those women are given the deceptive title of senior women’s administrator, or SWA, a label Groth believes has “pigeon-holed women.”

“It’s time to get rid of that title,” she said. “You don’t put senior male administrator or senior black administrator.”

There are more female university presidents than athletic directors at Division I schools, the study shows. Bienen was quick to point out that he has hired three female deans in his tenure.

So why not a woman athletic director?

“I’ve seen women interview that were fabulous, better than male candidates and didn’t get the job,” Gore-Mann said several weeks ago. “You have to think what’s up with that?”

Gore-Mann is right, but with another door closed, she and many other qualified women are still waiting for an answer.

Adam Rittenberg is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].