Betsy L. Bruce is the current Director of Recreation & Club Sports.
A physical educator/coach/athletic administrator by vocation and a weaver/fiber artist by avocation, Betsy has been able to carve out a unique niche at Oberlin. Originally hired as the Director of the Recreation Center, a.k.a Philips PE Center, in 1999, Betsy's position has certainly evolved over her 16-year tenure.
She wears lots of hats within the Department of Athletics & Physical Education including those of director or coordinator of Aquatics, Intramurals, Physical Education and Recreation (including lots of programming such as the Climbing Wall, homeschoolers' PE program, Learn to Swim and other children's programs among others). Teaching beginning swimming is still one of her all-time favorite activities!
As of July 2008, she now also wears the cap of Director of Club Sports under the auspices of the Division of Student Life. Currently, she assists the officers of up to twenty three officially sanctioned student organizations from aikido to wrestling alphabetically and fencing to archery in length of tenure on campus. Some sport clubs are instructional in nature while others are highly competitive. Under her guidance, the Club Sport Council is a growing organization where members gain leadership skills and experience through numerous opportunities.
During Winter Term, for fourteen years, Betsy has taught a group project titled "From Yarn to Garment" where her students design a wearable project, weave the cloth and cut, sew and construct their own personal garment of choice. Often during the semesters, she guides Private Readings in Weaving and related fiber arts/crafts for the Art Department.
Bruce was a physical education major and French minor at the College of Wooster. Her M.A degree in physical education is from the University of Iowa. Prior to Oberlin she taught physical education and coached both field hockey and women's lacrosse for eight and twelve years respectively at Hartwick and Hamilton Colleges in Central New York. Her 1980 field hockey team at Hartwick placed second (in overtime!) at the AIAW Division III National Championship.
Feel free to ask her about outdoor recreation, NOLS (the National Outdoor Leadership School), bicycling touring and bike safety, vegetable and dye gardening, local fiber arts (particularly weaving and dyeing) and more. She thrives on helping folks make connections with interested others... just ask. Find her between teaching commitments in Philips (mostly likely in Carr Pool) and her office, ie. "Club Sports Central" in Hales at the top of the stairs just inside the main door on the west side.
