Williamsburg, Va. - The College of William and Mary's Athletics
Department will hold a weekend's worth of activities to celebrate the long and distinguished history of
its women's athletics programs, student-athletes and coaches.
Erica Walsh, a 1997 women's soccer
graduate of William and Mary will be the featured honoree. Walsh is the current Women's Soccer Head Coach
at Penn State and Assistant Coach for Women's National Team, Silver Meadlist at
the 2011 World Cup.
The weekend's activities will start on Saturday
evening with a reception at the Crowne Plaza Fort Magruder Hotel. Walsh will be honored during Sunday's Celebration Brunch, which will be held at
W&M's Muscarelle Museum of Art. The program is scheduled to start at
11 a.m. Ousterhout and Kaplan will be presented
with the Tribe Champion for Life Award and
One Tribe Award.
For more information, or to register
online visit www.tribeclub.com/cwa or contact Lisa
Starbuck at (757) 221-1599 or via email atlastar@wm.edu.
The following is more info on the
weekend's events.
About Celebration of Women's Athletics
The Celebration of Women's Athletics
originated to highlight the history of W&M's women's athletics programs and to
recognize the dedication and determination of former varsity
athletes. In our second year, we intend to continue in bringing
together female athletes and coaches to celebrate shared successes on and off
the field - and to honor women whose experience in intercollegiate athletics has
shaped their personal, professional and charitable lives.
In keeping with one of the elements of the
College's strategic plan and mission statement, our goal is to create a
lifelong connection to the College. Accentuating the contributions of
former student-athletes to the College and its athletic program provides an
important link in reaching that goal.
The Celebration of Women's Athletics has
chosen Erica Walsh as the 2011
Honoree.
In addition to our Celebration of Women's
Athletics Honoree, we also like to recognize two other former student-athletes
who have used their experiences on the field to find success off the
field. Our Tribe Champion for Life award goes to an alumna who has
demonstrated leadership, integrity, fortitude, and excellence in her personal,
professional or philanthropic accomplishments. This year our award goes
to Jo Ousterhout. Ousterhout is a 1976 graduate of the college and
participated in field hockey. Ousterhout will be recognized for her
leadership, integrity, fortitude and excellence in her highly successful
professional career first in banking and then as the head of two different
start-up companies. Most recently, Jo has been the CEO and co-counder of
Metta Journeys, a philanthropic travel company that immerses donors in the
onsite work of carefully selected partner organizations and communities they
serve. Jo has lived and worked in the US, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London.
She and her husband, Jeff Fergus, have recently moved from London to Washington
D.C., where Jo is working through various organizations to strengthen the voices
and roles of women in U.S. politics.
Our other award honors a former
student-athlete who has significantly contributed to her local community or a
non-profit organization and has inspired others to do the same. The
recipient of our One Tribe Award is Lauren Kaplan McKetta. Lauren
is a 2005 graduate and a former basketball player.
Weekend Events
Our weekend begins on Saturday evening
(April 14) with a Welcome Reception at the Crowne Plaza Fort Magruder that is
free to all attendees starting at 6 p.m. It is a great opportunity to
mingle with former student athletes as well as current ones.
The highlight of our event is the elegant
Awards Brunch held at the Muscarelle Museum on Sunday morning, starting at
11:00 am. There we will recognize our Honoree, as well as the recipients
of our two additional awards.
Sponsorship opportunities are still
available at www.tribeclub.com/cwa.
