Dr. Sara H. Cree Scholarship

The Dr. Sara H. Cree Scholarship is named in honor of Dr. Sara H. Cree (Chi/Shepherd). It is reserved for members involved in the study of health or physical education.

About Dr. Sara H. Cree

Dr. Cree was born January 11, 1907 at her family’s ancestral home. In the 1990s, Dr. Cree sold her family’s farm and used the assets to establish a uni-trust for three universities: Penn State, West Virginia, and Shepherd. A West Virginia native, Dr. Cree earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from West Viriginia University (WVU). Dr. Cree was the first graduate to earn a Master of Science in Physical Education from WVU’s School of Physical Education. She went on to earn her Ed.D. from Penn State University.

In 1940, she joined the faculty at Shepherd College (now Shepherd University). She served as the Chairman of the Division of Health & Physical Education from 1940-54, as associate professor, and was a professor of physical education from 1954 to 1972, when she retired. She was responsible for developing the physical education major program and furthered the expansion of the athletic program by encouraging the establishment of the women’s recreation association, which later evolved into the women’s intercollegiate athletic program that exists today.

Dr. Cree was a popular teacher and well-respected academician, so much so the physical education building was named in her honor in 1975. While the building was taken down in 2017, a permanent display featuring a brick from Sara Cree Hall and memorabilia from the building’s naming ceremony is on display in the university’s athletic center. The following year, Shepherd’s softball field was dedicated as the Sara Cree Field.

A recognized leader in the education and intercollegiate athletic space, Dr. Cree was inducted into the Shepherd Athletic Hall of Fame and the West Virginia University Hall of Fame for Academic and Athletic Excellence. Dr. Cree passed away at the age of 97.