Gymnastics great Miller to speak on campus

The Binghamton University Athletics Club will host the eighth annual Bearcats Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon at noon on Monday, Feb. 4, at the Events Center. Held each year to recognize the achievements of Binghamton University’s female student-athletes, the luncheon also raises scholarships awarded to female student-athletes at Binghamton.

This year, U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Gymnast Shannon Miller will be the featured speaker. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, she won a pair of gold medals. Four years earlier, she captured a pair of silver medals and three bronze medals at the Barcelona Olympics. In addition, Miller won three gold medals at the 1993 World Championships and two more the following year.

Miller is the only American gymnast to rank among the Top 10 All-Time Gymnasts. She is also the only female athlete to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame twice (2006 as an individual and 2008 as part of a team).

Currently, Miller serves as the president of Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health and Fitness for Women. She has also founded the Shannon Miller Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting childhood obesity.

This year’s featured speaker is being arranged through the support of long-time athletics sponsor and University partner, Sodexo Education Services.

Since 2006, the Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon has raised more than $100,000 to support the BUAC Women’s Scholarship Fund. The scholarship was established in 2007, and is awarded annually to two deserving female student-athletes. The luncheon began in 2006, with just 75 attendees, and is today one of the Athletics Department’s primary fund-raisers. In 2012, over 600 guests attended the event.

Miller is the latest of an impressive group of guest speakers who have come to Binghamton for the Celebrating Women’s Athletics Luncheon. She is preceded by Amanda Beard (2012), Julie Foudy (2011), Kara Lawson (2010) and Jessica Mendoza (2009).

Luncheon attendees will have the opportunity to meet current Bearcat student-athletes and coaches from the women’s teams and to hear them speak about the role athletics has played in their development, careers and life. In addition, guests will have the chance to bid on several auction items with all proceeds going toward the BUAC Women’s Scholarship.

The luncheon, which is open to the public, is held each February as part of a series of national celebratory events surrounding National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD), which began in 1986. The purpose of NGWSD is to honor the achievements of all female athletes and recognize the positive influence of sports participation. Tickets for the event are $40.

Contact Bette Anne Gaube at 607-777-2093 for more information.