Berry Nominated for Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Brogan Berry, Harvard women’s basketball co-captain, was recently nominated as one 30 nominee’s nationwide for the exclusive Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the award is looking for the “total student-athlete,” and it hopes to encourage students to use their athletic platform to make a positive impact as community leaders.

“I’ve heard about a couple of past Harvard athletes being nominated, even past teammates and past opponents I’ve played,” Berry said. “Looking back I admired a lot of those athletes for what they do on the court and off the court ... so when I was accepted as a nominee, I was just blown away because they all have been such great inspirations and it’s an honor to be put on the same playing field as them.”

The award targets NCAA Division I seniors who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character, and competition.

All four are clear strengths for the Crimson point guard, in fact the award's website provides a detailed description of how she meets each of the ‘four C’s of excellence.'

Berry, a psychology concentrator, has served as the community service co-chair for Harvard’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, where she was responsible for organizing the event Bench Press for Breast Cancer which raised over $1,700 for breast cancer research.

Berry has also been a tutor at the Mission Hill After School Program, a housing residence in the low income section of Roxbury.

And her achievements on the court have been just as impressive.

When Berry graduates in May, she will be among the most decorated student-athletes in Crimson’s history. She currently ranks 13th in program history with 1,071 career points and is sixth all-time with 397 career assists. She has led the Ivy League in assists each of the last two years and ranked second in scoring in 2010-11

Of the 30 nominees, it will be narrowed down to 10 by a national media committee in January. Those ten names will be put on an official ballot for a nation wide vote. This fan balloting will count for 1/3 of the final decision, while coaches and media members will account for the other 2/3.

“I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much because I looked at the list and theres a lot of commended other athletes,” Berry said. “So I’m just trying to keep a level head ... even being nominated is a huge honor just in itself.”

Berry, who hopes to play professionally in Europe after she graduates, has other things on her mind besides the Lowe’s award.

“I’m so excited,” Berry said. “We have our first game in less than three days and I couldn’t be more thrilled!”