Hall of Honor
Betty Jane Webber was a pioneer for women's sports. She came to Eastern as the Dean of Women in 1965, and though it was not initially part of her job, she quickly became involved in women's sports.
Fifteen years after arriving on Eastern's campus, she told a young Bryan Stevenson some of her story for a piece in the student newspaper.
"My parents were both athletes," she said. "My father played baseball and my mother was a swimmer. At college, I played practically every sport, and I learned more about coaching at that time than anywhere else."
After graduating from Penn State with a degree in Health and Physical Education and a Masters in Counseling, she began her career as a teacher, guidance counselor, and field hockey coach at Eastern Lebanon County High School while at the same time coaching women's basketball at Lebanon Valley College.
Shortly after she arrived at Eastern, the women's coach left. She took on teaching health and physical education courses while also coaching.
"I remember our first basketball season," she told Stevenson. " We played four games and won three. We got old phys. ed tunics and used chalk to draw numbers on them."
Starting her career before the passage of Title iX, Webber coached Field Hockey, Basketball, and Softball and advocated for women's sports to get more recognition and funding. As much as she advocated for women's sports, Webber was known as a person who advocated for the women she coached.
In wrapping up his piece, Stevenson said. "Coach Webber has developed a kind of community and fellowship amongst the women's teams on this campus that has captured the eyes of other teams, officials, and members of the Eastern Community. The increasing number of students subtley [sic] suggesting Coach Webber as an excellent selection for professor of the week indicate the the women athletes' fond appreciation for Miss Webber. They are not alone in recognizing success and excellence ina. remarkable educator and coach."
Her former students and players relate stories of the way she would speak into their lives as an inspirational mentor. With a strong faith, a commitment building mentoring relationships with her student-athletes, and a desire to excel, Betty Jane Webber was an outstanding model for Eastern coaches and administrators to come.
Betty Jane Webber passed away in April of 2015. Her niece, Gretchen H. Webber Manzella received the honor.
