|
|
|
Members of the Bert family hold up a jersey presented by the College in memory of Helen Bert at halftime of the PC-Marquette women’s basketball game on January 20. The presentation was made by Robert G. Driscoll, Jr., associate vice president for athletics and athletic director, right. On either side of the framed jersey are Dr. Arthur A. Bert, left, and Robert H. Bert, Mrs. Bert’s sons. To Arthur’s right are his wife, Catherine Little Bert ’77, and their daughter, Jacqueline Bert. To Robert’s left are his daughter, Brittany Bert, and wife, Patricia Bert.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Helen Bert Student-Athlete Lounge in Alumni Hall.
|
|
|
Department of Athletics administrators and staff and other members of the College community joined family and friends of the late Helen Bert on January 20 to celebrate the opening of the Helen Bert Student-Athlete Lounge in Alumni Hall.
Mrs. Bert founded the women’s athletics program at PC and served as an administrator in the athletics department from 1971-88. She retired as associate athletic director. Under her direction, 12 Division I varsity women’s sports teams were established and the first athletic scholarships were awarded to women’s basketball players in 1975.
Designed exclusively for use by PC student-athletes, the Helen Bert Student-Athlete Lounge opened last May. It was supported by a $25,000 donation by the Bert family. The lounge features six computer workstations and a study area with leather chairs.
The celebration of the lounge’s opening occurred during Homecoming Weekend. It consisted of a luncheon in the President’s Dining Room in Alumni Hall and a ceremony at halftime of the PC-Marquette women’s basketball game in Mullaney Gym.
During the ceremony, Robert G. Driscoll, Jr., associate vice president for athletics and athletic director, presented the Bert family with a home basketball jersey with the name “Bert” and the number 1 printed on the back.
Speaking during the luncheon before the game, Driscoll called the new lounge another “stepping stone” in acknowledging Mrs. Bert’s contributions and legacy.
“We have greater visions in sight,” he said. “Our goal is to make that entire wing the Helen Bert Wing with new conference rooms . . . everything that we can do to impact positively the quality of our students’ lives, to continue to bring women back, and to grow this legacy.”
One of Mrs. Bert’s sons, Dr. Arthur A. Bert, a surgeon, also spoke and said his mother provided inspiration for a generation of PC women athletes, as well as for himself.
“Athletics were to teach all of us to set lofty goals, to learn to work hard to achieve those goals, to see life was a competition and certainly within oneself to push to be a better, more complete person,” he said.