On National Girls and Women in Sports Day, Georgetown's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is celebrating nearly five years of the  Women's Allegiance, a philanthropic volunteer committee dedicated to supporting and advancing women's athletics programs at Georgetown.

This committee connects donors with a strong interest in women's sports to opportunities that enhance the academic, athletic, and community experiences of female student-athletes on the Hilltop by leveraging their time, talent and resources. Women's Allegiance members are helping to build a framework to benefit student-athletes in specific areas, including fundraising for women's programs and priorities that touch female student-athletes, engaging the community by educating and inspiring others to join these efforts, and mentoring and networking for current student-athletes through the resources and influence of current partners.

"The secret sauce at Georgetown has always been—and will continue to be—the people and alumni who make up this great community," said Lee Reed, Francis X. Rienzo Director of Intercollegiate Athletics. "Philanthropy is no longer supplemental to what we do, it is foundational, and this group is one of our guiding groups to become a thriving athletics department."

The current group of philanthropically-minded advocates is made up of a diverse range of women and men student-athlete alumni at Georgetown, non-athlete alumni, and student-athlete parents, each making an annual commitment of $25,000 or more in support of a women's sport initiative.

"I am honored to be able to give back to a university and athletics program (track & field/cross country) that gave so much to me," said Mary Taylor Behrens (C'83, Parent'16, '18, '22), who co-chairs the committee. "I find joy in being able to help our female student-athletes have the experience they deserve during their time on the Hilltop not only through philanthropy but through our networking and mentorship events that we host on a bi-annual basis."
 
"The biggest surprise to us was discovering that the level of philanthropic support for women's sports was just a third of that for the men's," said Irene Shaw (Parent'94, '98, '98), who co-chairs the committee with Behrens. "This figure was true not just for Georgetown but for most universities across the board. When Lee [Reed] asked us to help create the Women's Allegiance, we were in the vanguard along with other peer institutions in shining a bright light on this imbalance. Over the past five years, our committee has worked to rectify this and to also bring former Hoya female student-athletes back into the Hilltop fold."
 
"We are so grateful for five impactful years of the Women's Allegiance here at Georgetown," said Georgetown Women's Lacrosse Head Coach Caitlyn Phipps. "This group has created meaningful opportunities and provided invaluable resources for our women's sports that will leave a lasting impact both on and off the field. Their dedication to philanthropy, networking, and empowering women continues to set our student-athletes up for lifelong success."
 
To learn more about how to get involved with the Women's Allegiance, please contact Scarlett Schneider, Ph.D., Managing Director of Development, Athletics, at scarlett.schneider@georgetown.edu.