In 2000, women’s lacrosse wasn’t even a varsity sport at Northwestern. And flip-flops were not yet a footwear craze. Fast-forward five years. Today the Wildcat women’s lacrosse players have garnered celebrity status — not for winning NU’s first national championship in more than 50 years but for their choice of footwear at a White House reception.
The NU athletes traveled to Washington D.C. on July 12 along with 14 other NCAA championship teams for “Champions Day.” After spending the morning exploring the White House’s East Wing, the women met President George W. Bush for a South Lawn ceremony where they presented the president with a custom-made NU lacrosse stick — a purple head inscribed “GWB43” for the 43rd president. The team then posed for an official photo-op. The picture reveals four out of nine women in the front row with the president wearing thong sandals. What followed was a flip-flop fiasco.
The “misunderstanding” made the front page of July 15’s Chicago Tribune with the headline, “YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE?!,” an excerpt from an e-mail sent to graduated senior and midfielder Kate Darmody from her older brother Tom. The article featured specifics on the shoes in question as well as quotes from players and their disapproving mothers.
“While my mother felt it was inappropriate, I believe the shoes have a different connotation these days,” said player Bailey Su, a Weinberg sophomore. “It’s a generational thing. When I’m not in sneakers, I’m in flip-flops.”
Since the story broke, the media can’t get the women’s feet out of their mouth. Newspapers and television networks around the globe have called upon experts from Glamour magazine, Nordstrom department stores and the New York Fashion Institute of Technology to discuss whether the lacrosse players’ footwear was suitable attire or a lapse in etiquette.
“At first, I thought all the attention to the shoes was a little demeaning. It took the focus away from what we were there for (at the White House) and what we had accomplished,” said player Meredith Philipp, who graduated in June.
The Times of London opened an online discussion board posing the question, “Would you wear flip-flops to the White House?” Among the responses, a man from Dublin, Ireland remarked, “To be frank, if a crowd of such very attractive young women decided to stand around me instead, I would not be looking at their shoes.”
Despite the controversy, the team members are determined to put their best foot forward. Last week during an interview with Katie Couric on NBC’s “Today, ” Darmody and teammate Shelby Chlopak announced that the famous flip-flops would be signed by their owners and auctioned off on eBay with proceeds benefiting the team’s “superfan,” Jaclyn Murphy, a 10-year-old diagnosed with brain cancer.
Jaclyn, a native of Hopewell Junction, N.Y., first made contact with the women after her coach, Matt Cameron, shared Jaclyn’s story with Scott Hiller, a volunteer assistant to the NU team. Cameron and Hiller formerly coached the Major League Lacrosse’s Boston Cannons together. Jaclyn was one of the few girls enrolled in Cameron’s youth lacrosse lessons at the local recreational center.
Throughout the Wildcats’ undefeated season, team members would check in with Jaclyn weekly and before games. Many of the women kept in touch with her by phone and through instant messenger.
“We don’t talk about her sickness,” Darmody said. “She’s still a 10-year-old kid with a lot going on. But I would end calls by saying, ‘Stay strong.'”
The Web site created by Jaclyn’s family to report condition updates to family members facilitated her friendship with her “Big Sisters.”
“She was such an inspiration,” said player Lindsey Munday, a Communication senior. “Here was this little girl with a brain tumor looking up to us when really we should be looking up to her.”
Improved health allowed Jaclyn to join the team in May for the NCAA championship in Annapolis, Md. She stood on the field and shared in their victory.
Now the women hope to celebrate Jaclyn. Proceeds from the eight pairs of flip-flop sandals available on eBay, ranging in fabric from plastic to brown suede, will be presented to the Murphy family to help cover Jaclyn’s medical costs. The collection includes six pairs worn and autographed by the players with personal messages of encouragement to Jaclyn, as well as the open-toe footwear displayed by Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller on “Today” and by ESPN’s “Cold Pizza” host Dana Jacobson when she interviewed the women last week.
“Throughout this whole journey, from freshman year to the national championships, Kelly, our coach, has told us: Be positive,” player Shelby Chlopak said. “The team has turned around the negative press completely. We’ve made it into a positive and great thing — helping Jaclyn,” said graduated senior player Shelby Chlopak.
At press time, bids for the women’s individual pairs had exceeded $300, boosting the team’s total donation to more than $1,000 and proving that kindness and compassion are always in fashion.
For information about Jaclyn Murphy, visit her web site: http://www3.caringbridge.org/ny/jaclyn/
Reach Lindsay Meck at [email protected].
