By Town Crier Staff Report

Former Foothill College president Dr. Thomas H. Clement was inducted into the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame last Thursday in Reno.

The induction ceremony was part of the fifth annual Commission on Athletics Convention. The COA is the governing body for community college sports in California.

Clement entered the hall as a “service recipient.” An early advocate for parity among men’s and women’s intercollegiate athletic programs, Clement supported the creation of several women’s programs at Foothill, including softball, water polo and golf.

Clement was appointed to the COA Board by the Coast Conference for six years and served as chairman for three years. He also focused on human performance and athletic-scholar issues.

Under his leadership, many breakthrough improvements were made in intercollegiate athletics, including the completion of the preamble and introduction to the COA constitution; establishment of rules mandating the abolishment of tobacco and other substances in COA-sponsored competitions; adoption of policies strengthening the quality of the student athlete academic performance requirements; and completion of early research on the Study of Academic Performance of Student Athletes.

Clement retired in 1994 after 12 years as president of Foothill and a total of 30 years in top administrative posts in the district.