ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T has been named as the recipient of the 2018 Dr. Joseph J. McGowan Visionary Award by the Great Lakes Valley Conference for an event it hosted celebrating the beginning of women's athletics at the university during the 2017-18 school year.

The institution was selected for its "Pioneers of Miner Women's Athletics" program that it hosted during Homecoming weekend, featuring members of the university's first volleyball and women's basketball teams that began play during the 1974-75 academic year.

Missouri S&T will receive the formal award Tuesday at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Spring Awards Reception in St. Louis.

The event, which took place on Oct. 28, 2017, was to celebrate not only the passion that fueled the development of greater opportunities for women to compete in sports at the collegiate level, but also the 45^th anniversary of Title IX.  During that day, the 16 individuals of those teams and the team's head coach, Annette Caruso-Howatt, were provided an opportunity to meet with the university's current women's student-athletes in a reception held prior to the S&T football game. 

The group was recognized at halftime of the football game and then was in attendance at the S&T volleyball game later that afternoon prior to a banquet to honor the former student-athletes.  As part of the banquet, the honorees were also fitted for letter jackets, which had been provided for the lettermen of the men's teams during that period of time but not for the women's letter winners.

The reception was capped by a speech by Caruso-Howatt that tied the past to the present and reminded the current student-athletes to "keep carrying the torch" for women's athletics.

The event left an impact on the current Missouri S&T student-athletes.

"I didn't realize how privileged we were until we met them," said Carlie Combs, a junior on last year's Missouri S&T volleyball team.  "They were talking about things like not having their own trainer or their own locker room and compared to what we have, it was amazing in that they paved the way for us and what we have today.  Coach Caruso-Howatt came in to speak to us and gave this powerful, inspiring speech that made me want to go out and become the next woman president.

"It was an incredible experience to meet these women that are so driven and accomplished," Combs added. "When they talked to us, they inspired us to fight for what we have and continue to make strides – not just for ourselves, but for the women who will be in our shoes 10 or 20 years down the road. That's the drive to keep us motivated to do well – to do it for the next generation."

The event also made Missouri S&T a finalist for the NCAA Division II Award of Excellence, an honor that recognizes positive campus and community engagement efforts during the past year.