[4] After receiving her second degree, she moved to San Diego unemployed, on the recommendation of a student, and accepted a teaching position at Kearny High School.
[3] Sweet stayed at the high school for one year before being hired to teach and coach at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
[4] As UCSD was a new institution with fewer than 10,000 students, Sweet was originally hired for their physical education department in which she would also coach their men's and women's badminton.
[1] She was originally unwelcomed by the other male athletic directors due to their budget cuts and she received numerous hate mail in response to the national attention she earned for her role.
[2] Following the passing of Title IX legislation, Sweet began to equalize the funding and schedules affecting men's and women's program to reach gender equity.
[8] Upon receiving the news of her promotion, a journalist from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called it "pure tokenism" and likened it to "having a debutante as head of the National Mule Skinners Assn.
"[6] However, Sweet later said that "to a lot of people, it was more startling that a Division III administrator was elected as NCAA president rather than a woman.