Jackie Court, first woman of color to coach at Brown, dies

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Jackie Court, who was the first woman of color hired to coach at Brown University, has died, the university said in a statement.

She was 81.

No cause of death was immediately available.

Court, who died on Sunday, was a public school teacher when the Ivy League school hired her and she went on to serve as the head gymnastics coach for more than 30 years until her retirement in 2001. She was a two-time East Coast Athletic Conference coach of the year honors and the NCAA's Northeast coach of the year in 1999.

She also served as the state chair for USA Gymnastics and on the advisory boards for the Women's Sports Foundation and New England Women's Fund. The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches honored her in 1994 with a Special Service Award.