It is with much sadness that we report the passing of our beloved friend and colleague Jennifer Crispen. She died Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 at Lynchburg General Hospital after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Crispen was an associate professor in physical education and coach at Sweet Briar for more than 30 years. She began in July 1977 as assistant professor, and was promoted to associate professor in 1982. She received tenure in 1981 and served as the chair of physical education from 1979 to 1983. She was a member of nearly every committee on campus, and most recently was the first woman to serve as the chair of the faculty senate.

She earned her bachelor's from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a master's from Smith College.

Among the winningest coaches in the country, “Jenn” or “Crispy” or even “Crispen” as her friends and students called her, had 39 years of collegiate experience as well as work in the U.S. Elite and Olympic Development Programs. She coached at Skidmore and Mount Holyoke before coming to Sweet Briar, and in 2002, coached her 500th field hockey game. In 2004 she was inducted into the National Field Hockey Coaches Hall of Fame.

As a player, she was a member of the U.S. squad and played against Germany, Wales, Canada, Holland and England.

She also chaired the U.S. Field Hockey Association committee that created the first national coaching certification program. She was a member of the NCAA Division III National Field Hockey Committee and was the NCAA collegiate rules liaison. She was honored by her peers as the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, and in 1994 became the 10th inductee into the 200 Victory Club of the College Field Hockey Coaches Association. Her career record was 292-226-21.

In 1984 and 1996, Crispen worked at the Olympic Games as a media consultant in field hockey. An avid mountain biker, she lived on campus and frequented the trails with her black standard poodle, Mattie. She also was an accomplished artist. Her watercolors have appeared on Sweet Briar publications and decorate the walls of many offices and homes on campus.

Crispen also was influential in the advancement of Sweet Briar's new 53,000-square-foot Fitness and Athletics Center, and while she did not get to see the completed building, the facility had always been part of her vision for the College.

She told her team and recruits, “This is the single-most significant thing that has happened to Vixen athletics since the founding of the College in 1901.”

Crispen exemplified service to others in the College community in many ways. Her community extended to the athletic, as an exemplary coach; the academic, as a scholar of Title IX and the NCAA field hockey rules liaison and in the Lynchburg arts world; but ultimately, her most extended service was to this small, close-knit college of young women.

Her example of enduring strength and proactive movement through the recurrences of her cancer, instead of giving in to self pity or fear, provides a model that no textbook can touch. She always thought of the wellbeing of others on campus and women in the local community, giving generations of students, faculty and staff an example to be followed both on and off the field.

An informal gathering will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17 in Memorial Chapel to share memories and stories. A memorial service is being planned for late January 2009. Details will be announced.