While many of the women didn't expect to receive a letter, the gesture nonetheless is highly appreciated.

"The response from this group of women athletes is an answer to an unfulfilled desire in their life to be recognized," said Alyce Cheska, who headed up the Department of Physical Education for Women from 1966-1970. "So many of them have come back, it may be a lifetime desire. When women who played in the 1930s come back, you know it must be a lifelong desire of some sort."

When Cheska left the department, she had increased the budget for women's sports programs from a meager $500 to $5,000. Despite her efforts, the University still lagged behind its peers in financial support.

Female athletes from the University's past gather with current members of the UI athletic programs. The women came to campus in November to receive an official Varsity "I" letter.

On May 15, 1974, the University absorbed women's sports into the varsity athletic program. Title IX, the civil rights law originally passed in 1972 prohibiting gender discrimination by federally funded educational institutions (in all areas, including athletics), had begun to take effect at Illinois. Today the more than 200 UI female varsity athletes compete in 10 sports, with a budget of more than $5 million.

The word "pioneer" has acquired cliche status when used in the context of women in sports, yet nowhere does it better apply than to the women who participated in sports when athletic budgets were practically nil, and recognition was nonexistent.

The women who participated in intercollegiate or extramural sports took their experiences and applied them to their adult lives. They are current or retired doctors and professors, CEOs, military officers, businesswomen, lawyers, teachers and coaches. They are still active; many still swim and play golf or tennis, while a few others have added triathlons and marathons to their accomplishments.

"They were not only pioneers when they were here, but they were pioneers in providing sports opportunities for girls that [were not available] when we were growing up," Greaves said. "Today's athletes benefited either directly or indirectly from [the trailblazers'] efforts as teachers and coaches."

Many of them, such as Ann Brown Thormes '62 ALS, can call themselves the "first" of something. In Thormes' case, she helped introduce soccer to the girls at a Tucson, Ariz., high school in the mid-1980s.

"At the time I thought the girls really had it made," she said. "They had nice uniforms and traveled by bus."

While on campus, the newest Illini varsity letterwinners toured the facilities the women use today and met with current athletes, including the women's basketball team. They shared stories and memorabilia. They were interviewed on film, so their tales and memories can be preserved. As much as the event was a celebration of the past, it was also a keen reminder of both the present and the future of women's athletics at the University.

Doris Henderson says she's pleased to replace her W.A.A. letter with the official Varsity "I" she received from the U of I in November.

The memories may have faded a bit, but the good feelings toward the University have only been strengthened.

"We wanted to make [the women athletes] feel good about what they did," Shoemaker said. "In the long run, it seems like we're getting back more than we're giving."

For Thormes, who grew up believing she was going to play catcher for the Chicago Cubs, the recognition was more than she could have ever hoped for.

"To have a varsity letter — I think I'm going to find a really good spot for that in my family room," she said, her eyes beaming. "I think it's really starting to hit me, the reality of it."