Friends and colleagues have hailed her as “a true champion,” “inspirational,” and “a gifted educator.” The late Helen A. Bert, who founded the women’s athletics program at Providence College, was all of these things and more.

The Helen Bert Gala on Saturday, April 16, at The Westin Providence hotel will celebrate Mrs. Bert’s life and legacy and honor the accomplishments of women’s athletics at the College. All proceeds from the event will support PC women’s athletics.

Sponsored by the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Department of Athletics, the gala is open to the College community. The celebration will begin at 5:00 p.m. and will feature a cocktail reception, a silent auction, and dinner. Tickets are $75 per person and can be purchased by calling Steve Napolillo, assistant director of alumni and donor relations, at (401) 865-2677.

Karen Adams of local CBS affiliate WPRI-Channel 12 will emcee the event and speakers will be announced shortly.

Mrs. Bert was the first woman administrator in the Department of Athletics, serving  from 1971-1988. She retired as associate athletic director. Affectionately known as “The Original Lady Friar,” she was the first woman inducted into the Providence College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.

Under her leadership, 12 Division I varsity women’s sports were established at PC and the first athletic scholarships were awarded to women’s basketball players in 1975. Mrs. Bert developed a core of standout student-athletes who became the foundation of the College’s women’s athletics program. These included Lisa Connolly ’75, Paulette Hassett ’78, Kathy Lenahan ’81, Mary Ann McCoy ’80, and Lynn Sheedy ’80.

“Her legacy as the architect of women’s athletics at Providence College is most befitting someone with Helen’s extraordinary skills and devotion,” College President Philip A. Smith, O.P. commented in October 2002 shortly after Mrs. Bert’s death at age 80.