Irmel Fagan Collection of Women's Athletics at Colorado State University

Irmel Louise Fagan (1913-2010) served at Colorado State University as Director of the Physical Education Department for Women. She began as an instructor at Colorado State University in 1957, becoming the director of the physical education program following the retirement of Elizabeth Forbes in 1959. Fagan was instrumental in the development of the dance program that was started under Forbes' tenure.

Irmel Louise Williams Fagan was born on her family's farm near Tabor, Iowa on October 21, 1913 to Alfred and Emma Williams. The Williams family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1921. Irmel Fagan attended the University of Nebraska and graduated with a degree in physical education with an emphasis in dance. Upon graduation, her first teaching job was in Scotia, Nebraska. She also taught at Kansas State University and Drake University. During this time she participated in advanced studies in dance at Bennington College and the University of Wisconsin.

After these positions and studies, Fagan settled into teaching at a junior college in McCook, Nebraska. There she met and married Robert L. Fagan. Eventually they moved to Estes Park, Colorado and then Lakewood, Colorado. In 1956, Robert Fagan died of heart disease, and Fagan moved to Fort Collins to take a teaching position at Colorado State University in 1957. It was during this time that she also attended Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado), graduating with her master's degree.

In 1959, Elizabeth Forbes, the longtime director of the women's physical education department, retired and Fagan assumed the title. She, like Elizabeth Forbes, encouraged a dance program at the university, with many performances by the dance group "Orchesis." Robert and Irmel Fagan had five children: Robert, Sean, Bridget, Shannon, and Shelah. Irmel Fagan retired after 22 years of teaching in 1979 and died on July 28, 2010.

Women's athletics began at Colorado Agricultural College in the 1890s when a women's basketball team was first assembled by the students. In 1903 the women's basketball team won what could be considered the first athletic championship by winning five out of six contests with neighboring schools, including the University of Colorado.

As early as the 1907-1908 school year, Colorado Agricultural College (now Colorado State University) female students were expected to participate in gymnasium during their freshman and sophomore years. Physical training was established during the 1910-1911 school year. Mrs. Agnes Upson was the instructor in physical culture for women. All female students were required to complete a course in physical culture during their freshman through junior years; seniors and students in the Musical Department were exempt. Exercises included marching, calisthenics, apparatic games, tennis, golf, quoits, basketball, walking, and the use of dumbbells. Elizabeth Forbes was hired to teach physical training for women in 1920. In 1921, the Women's Club Building opened, for the first time giving women on campus their own locker room, gymnasium, and swimming pool.

To encourage women to participate in intramurals such as field hockey, tennis, volleyball, archery, and soccer, Forbes established the Women's Athletic Association (WAA) in May 1922. The Department of Physical Education was established for the 1925-1926 school year, with separate courses for men and women. The Physical Education Majors (PEM) Club was a group open to all women students majoring or minoring in physical education. The club's purpose was to promote good fellowship among women in physical education and extend professional opportunities and knowledge to its members.