Friends, family members and college leaders gathered in early May to celebrate the first inductees into the Berry College Athletics Hall of Fame. The inaugural group included three individuals and one team, all responsible for making unique contributions to the college’s rich athletic tradition.
“It’s an honor to pay tribute to the legacy we stand on today and to inspire future generations to come and build their own with us,” said Dr. Angel Mason, director of athletics.
The late Garland M. Dickey (42C, FFS), Berry’s first full-time athletic director. The U.S. Navy veteran made many important contributions between 1946 and 1981, including service as a coach in multiple sports and as a teacher and department chair responsible for developing the college’s physical education major. He also revitalized and expanded intramurals, played a key role in the 1958 founding of the Georgia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and in 1962 helped introduce women’s intercollegiate athletics at Berry. That same year, he held a contest on campus resulting in the selection of the Vikings nickname.
Dr. Joanne Rowe (FFS), a pioneer in the development of Berry women’s athletics who enjoyed notable success as head women’s basketball coach in the 1960s and early ’70s, twice earning Coach-of-the-Year nods while establishing a championship tradition in the Southern Women’s Athletic Conference, which she helped to form. During her Berry tenure, Rowe also coached women’s volleyball and softball, in addition to women’s and men’s tennis.
Charles “Whitey” Tucker (71C), a multi-sport standout in baseball, cross country, track and basketball who consistently rose to the occasion against top competition. In baseball, he earned All-Conference and All-District 25 honors, led the conference with an impressive .385 batting average and was named MVP in 1971. He also claimed All-Conference, All-State and MVP recognition in cross country, among other notable career achievements.
The 1976 women’s basketball team, which claimed Berry’s first national championship in any sport by winning the small-college division of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. As chronicled in a recent Berry cover story, their championship was the first at any level of college play for a women’s basketball team in Georgia, a distinction no other four-year program matched for more than three decades. Members included national tournament MVP Nancy Paris Simpson (77C) and fellow All-American Sharon Adamson Bass (78C), Kathy Hood Carr (79c, 88G), Paula Dean (78C), Margaret Downing (78C), Celeste Powell Giordano (78c), Lynn Clark Lovett (79C), Deb Rice Parker (78C), Lisa Lynn Payne (79C), Barbara Struckhoff (77C), and Pam Pinyan Thompson (78C). Kay James led the team as head coach, with assistance from John Hawley.
HELP SHAPE FUTURE CLASSES
Learn how you can submit a nomination for Hall-of-Fame consideration by visiting
BERRY VIKINGS HALL OF FAME.
Recognition is available in five categories:
Student-Athlete, Team, Coach, Administrator and Distinguished Service.
