COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Former Ursinus College Field Hockey player Jenepher Shillingford '54 will be one of four former collegiate student-athletes to be inducted into the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Hall of Fame Class of 2025, the CSC announced Tuesday morning.
Shillingford will be joined by Cat Osterman (Texas, Class of 2007), Dr. Alarica (Huang) Lowe (MIT, Class of 2000), and Jackie Stiles (Missouri State, Class of 2001) and represent the four-member class. The four inductees will be honored during the All-Star Night of Honors presented by ESPN on Monday, June 9, 2025, held as part of the CSC Unite 25 convention at the World Center Marriott in Orlando. Award-winning ESPN reporter and 2019 CSC Jake Wade Award winner Holly Rowe serves as emcee. It takes place with a 5 p.m. (Eastern) reception followed by the awards ceremony.
"The 2025 class represents the best of the best in collegiate athletics, said Jason Yaman, the CSC Execute Director. "These four women initially etched their names in record books before going on to have a similarly significant impact in their professions and local communities. We are thrilled to officially welcome them into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame in June as we celebrate them and their achievements."
Shillingford's impact was felt first on the field. Her voice away from it impacted generations of athletes to come, pre-dating Title IX initiatives and beyond. In her athletic administrative roles, as president of United States Field Hockey Association (1993-2000), as a member of the United States Olympics Committee (2001-2003) and various NCAA committees, Shillingford advocated for equality in women's sports and cemented her influence in shaping women's sports at both national and international levels.
Shillingford is an Honorary Academic All-America Hall of Fame inductee as her collegiate career at Ursinus College pre-dated the Academic All-America® program in her sports of field hockey, soccer and tennis. Field hockey was the sport most pivotal in her athletic career, marked by her selection to the All-Philadelphia Field Hockey Team in 1955 and her time on the United States Field Hockey Team from 1955-1957.
After earning her bachelor's degree in biology and physical education from Ursinus College (1954) and her M.Ed. in physical education and sociology from Temple University, Shillingford served as assistant athletic director and coach at Immaculata College, where she led her women's basketball team to league championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974. After 15 years there, Shillingford joined the physical education staff of nearby Bryn Mawr College in 1976, coaching field hockey, basketball, tennis and lacrosse before becoming director of physical education and athletic director in 1980.
She was head of the USA Field Hockey delegation to numerous World Cup competitions and at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Her collegiate leadership roles included time on the NCAA Council and on the NACDA Executive Board. Shillingford also served as president of the U.S. Women's Lacrosse Association.
Her Snell-Shillingford Leadership Symposium, founded in 1999 and still active today, is an annual event empowering female college undergraduates to pursue careers in coaching and athletics through mentorship, leadership skills and advocacy. It is administered through the Centennial Conference and named for both Shillingford and her mentor, Eleanor Frost Snell, who served for four decades as Ursinus College professor of health and physical education, coach, and head of the women's physical education department from 1931 to 1971.
Among her numerous honors, Shillingford was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974. She earned the ECAC Katherine Ley Award in 1992 for her work in the promotion of women's sports and received an honorary Doctor of Science from Ursinus College in 1993. Shillingford received the Women's eNews Philadelphia Leadership Award in 2012. In September 2024, Bryn Mawr College celebrated the rededication of Shillingford Field with Shillingford in attendance, marking the completion of a state-of-the-art upgrade for the complex with is one of the first carbon-zero hockey turfs in the world, originally developed for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Shillingford is the first person from Ursinus to be inducted into the CSC Academic All-America Hall of Fame.
"My sincere thanks to College Sports Communicators for honoring me with your Academic All-America Hall of Fame Honor, Shillingford said. "I am most grateful. You have no idea how much excitement is caused in a retirement home when someone receives an award based on athletics! I regret that I am unable to attend in person, but so appreciative of this recognition."
