Over time, as public sentiment changed, so did Hiss’s policies. She became more sympathetic of competition and open to the desires of the student-run organizations and by the 1950s basketball thrived within the intramural structure. Intramural champions were allowed to play teams from other schools and an all-star team competed against champions of a church league, something unimaginable in the early years of Hiss’s tenure. While Hiss’s traditionalist ideas largely prevailed throughout her career at UT, she was extremely successful in serving to expand women’s athletics on campus.

 

Photo credit: H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, Anna Hiss Collection