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When Michael Muska was hired to be Oberlin College's Athletic Director in 1998, he unexpectedly fell into the national spotlight: Muska, you see, is gay, and word spread quickly that Oberlin had just hired the first openly gay male Athletic Director in the nation.

Muska came to Oberlin as an accomplished track and cross country coach and college administrator, having begun his career at Auburn and Northwestern. He has trained 20 All-Americans, a 2004 Olympic hopeful, and way back when helped recruit a young Bo Jackson while at Auburn. He has also worked at Brown University and New England prep schools Philips Andover and Milton Academy.

I had the opportunity to catch up with Michael in person, and we spoke about his personal history as a coach and administrator, as well as what the future holds for gays in professional sports.

Michael Muska is a thoughtful, expressive man, and his conversational tone quickly puts company at ease. He has moved on from Oberlin and is now working at Poly Prep in Brooklyn, where his warmth and knowledge are undoubtedly great assets to both the students and faculty.

This interview took place on February 22, 2004.

PART I

BT: Your resume includes coaching track and cross country at several prestigious colleges and prep schools -- Auburn, Northwestern, Andover, Milton -- but you made headlines when you went to Oberlin. What happened there?

Muska: I was hired as the Athletic Director and got a lot of attention because I admitted I was gay. Everybody yelled and screamed that I was the first openly gay male college Athletic Director in the United States. But I had been out when I was at Brown, and people tell me because of that I was the first openly gay male college coach, too. But no one paid much attention to it at that point; it got much more media attention at Oberlin.

BT: Were you out at Northwestern and Auburn?

Muska: I was totally closeted at both places. Particularly at Auburn. I think I was actually terrified of someone finding out I was gay. Living in a Southern community, racism was still an issue there, never mind homophobia.

I got a little more carefree when I got to Chicago, though Northwestern itself wasn't a much more accepting community. It was very fraternity-oriented, very jock-ish, but I think that was probably the first time I was a bit more active and addressed those issues.

BT: How was Brown different?

Muska: I ended up at Brown primarily because I was -- I won't say I was "outed," but it became apparent to people at Northwestern that I was gay. It was creating discomfort for a lot of people, and I realized that it made sense for me to go to a place that was more accepting.

BT: So when you went to Oberlin, were you planning on being as visibly out as you ended up being?

Muska: It kind of spun out of control. I remember the last question they asked me before we broke up the first set of job interviews: "Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?" A lot of friends had said, "Whatever you do, don't talk about the gay thing." And I thought, I might as well raise the issue because I'm not going back in the closet. I'd been out at Brown, I'd been out at the two prep schools. I had no intention of going back and sheltering my life again.

So I said, "You probably should know this about me. If it's an issue, so be it. If not, then we move forward." And, you know, it's Oberlin, so nobody really got too hyper about it.

BT: And then you were hired?

Muska: I went back to Oberlin for the second interview, and it was amazing to me how quickly the word had spread. There was some clear antagonism from the coaching staff, particularly the male coaches. They thought it was tough enough for Oberlin coaches to recruit kids, now they'd have a gay Athletic Director, too.

I remember the basketball coach at the time, though, was a real gentleman, and he said, "When I went to Oberlin, they had to deal with issues of racism and who I was. This isn't any different. If the guy's the right choice to be Athletic Director then that's what should decide it."

In the long run, I ended up getting the job. But then an Assistant VP at the college was speaking with someone at the Chronicle of Higher Education, and just said in passing, "We're so liberal right now we just hired a gay Athletic Director." The Chronicle just ran with it. Mind-boggling. The next thing I knew it was the lead article on their Web site. Then, of course, other media groups picked up on it.

And that's where it just kind of exploded. I have to admit I was kind of amazed by how quickly it spread and who jumped on top of it -- including the infamous Fred Phelps [from God Hates Fags], who decided he was going to protest at Oberlin. I was thinking, "Whoa. What's going on here?"

BT: So even though you were out in your personal life at Brown, you experienced a public "outing."

Muska: Yeah. I have to admit that when the Chronicle made that big a deal about it, I was a little surprised. And I think the reaction was mixed even at Oberlin. For being an incredibly liberal place, there were some people who had some issues with it. But I wasn't the one who started the "outing."

BT: How did the students respond to you?

Muska: The kids were terrific. The student-athletes' captains got together and they said, "Mr. Muska, if there's anything we can do, let us know." For most of the kids, it was a non-issue because Oberlin was... Oberlin. They had gay friends. They had other people on campus that they knew were gay. There were other gay administrators on campus.

BT: You left Oberlin after four years to become an assistant headmaster at Poly Prep in New York. Are you still coaching?

Muska: No. I could, but my duties are just so time-consuming. Obviously some kids still come in to see me for athletic advice because they all know my background. When a college coach tries to give a student a hard time, I'm able to say, "Wait a second. Cut the crap." I've been around it -- I know what's going on.

BT: I imagine a difference between Oberlin and Poly Prep is the amount of contact you have with students.

Muska: Probably, except at Oberlin I taught two senior seminars -- one on homophobia in sports and the other on the history of the modern Olympics. The first year I was there, I coached cross country, and then I realized it was too much time to be the Athletic Director and coach at the same time. But I went to a lot of the contests, and the kids knew me.

BT: Thinking about what the Chronicle of Higher Education did, what is your general opinion on outing?

Muska: I've always been opposed to outing. I got really annoyed last year with Out Magazine when [its Editor in Chief] Brendan Lemon came out and said he was dating a pro baseball player. I think what you do in your private life is your own business.

BT: Was it in part bragging?

Muska: Yeah, very much so. I thought it was actually very offensive. In fact, I initially cancelled my subscription, but then I thought, "Well, I like the magazine, so..." They should just fire him.

But anyway, I think that outing is a real issue, whether it's in politics or in athletics. People say that when you become a public figure, you become fair game. I still think there should be some respect for privacy in somebody's personal life.

BT: One of the things that's so interesting, though, is that your outing has led to a lot of good. How do we balance that?

Muska: I think that I was in a position and in a community where it could be done in a positive way. But even so, I remember a trustee wrote a letter to Oberlin's President while I was there. The trustee basically said, "I have lots of gay friends. They do my taxes. They do other things for me. But why do we have to have a gay Athletic Director at Oberlin?"

Come back tomorrow for Part II, where Michael and I discuss the current climate for gays in professional sports.

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