Rene Portland

Maureen Theresa Muth "Rene" Portland (March 31, 1953 – July 22, 2018)

Coaching career

Portland was hired as head coach of the Penn State Lady Lions basketball program in 1980, following two seasons at St. Joseph's and two seasons at Colorado. Portland was previously one of the star players at Immaculata College, one of the early powers in women's college basketball, where Portland helped lead the team to three national titles. Several of her teammates also went on to become prominent women's coaches, such as Theresa Grentz and Marianne Stanley.

Portland served 27 seasons as the Lady Lions head coach. She won over 600 games at Penn State, making her sixth in most wins in AIAW/NCAA Division I women's basketball. Although she had coached many Lady Lions teams to the NCAA tournament, she had been unable to win a national championship. Portland had a demonstrated commitment to charitable causes, participating in the first annual "Think Pink" day to raise funds for breast cancer research.

On March 22, 2007, Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics announced Portland's resignation, effective immediately.

On April 23, 2007, the university announced Coquese Washington as her successor.

Anti-lesbian controversy Portland forbade lesbian athletes in her program, as she explained in a 1986 article in The Chicago Sun-Times:

The statement was made prior to adoption of Penn State's policy on nondiscrimination and harassment in 1991; however, according to the 2009 documentary film Training Rules, no action was taken against Portland's prohibition.

In 2006, former player Jennifer Harris accused Portland of removing her from the team because of her perceived sexual orientation. Harris filed a federal lawsuit against Portland, athletic director Tim Curley, and the university. An internal university review found that Portland created a "hostile, intimidating, and offensive environment" based on Harris's perceived sexual orientation. Portland was fined $10,000, required to attend diversity training sessions, and placed on "zero tolerance" for future violations of the nondiscrimination policy.

Responding to the sanctions, Portland stated that "the process that was used to reach these conclusions was flawed." Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said that "consequences faced by Rene Portland are insulting and inadequate."

In February 2007, the lawsuit was settled out of court—before Portland's resignation the following month—under confidential terms and described in a joint statement as "amicable". Despite being forced out of the Penn State job, many of her fellow coaches in the Big Ten conference continued to support her.

The documentary film Training Rules, Seven players from Portland's final season remained on the squad when Coquese Washington became the next head coach. Hence, there were 106 players who concluded their time as Lady Lions under Portland.

Of these, 57 completed 4-year college careers at Penn State; however, the rest (49, or nearly half) stayed less than four seasons.

Awards and honors 2005 Penn State Renaissance Fund's Person of the Year 2004 WBCA Russell Athletic National Coach of the Year 1994 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year