PRINTER'S NO. 2013
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
409
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY KITCHEN, BOSCOLA, SCHWANK, TARTAGLIONE, COSTA,
WILLIAMS, SABATINA, BREWSTER, DINNIMAN, TEPLITZ, LEACH,
BLAKE, WILEY, FONTANA, GREENLEAF AND ARGALL, JUNE 30, 2016
INTRODUCED AND ADOPTED, JUNE 30, 2016
A RESOLUTION
Honoring the life and mourning the death of Pat Summitt, the
coach with the most wins in Division I history, a monumental
figure who was at the forefront of ascending women's
athletics into the national spotlight and an advocate for
Alzheimer's disease research.
WHEREAS, Pat Summitt's winning ways on and off the court have
inspired countless female and male athletes and helped transform
women's college basketball from a sport ignored by the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) into one that draws
national television audiences; and
WHEREAS, Sadly, Pat Summitt passed away Tuesday, June 28,
2016, at 64 years of age, after a battle with early onset
Alzheimer's disease; and
WHEREAS, Born Patricia Sue Head on June 14, 1952, in
Clarksville, Tennessee, as the daughter of a farmer, she was
instilled with the values of hard work and toughness from a
young age; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Summitt became the head coach at the University
of Tennessee flagship campus in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1974
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when she was 22, despite the NCAA not sponsoring women's
basketball until 1982; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Summitt's values of hard work proved useful as
she was only paid $250 a month to coach the team, which included
conducting doughnut sales to help pay for uniforms, washing the
uniforms herself, driving the team van to games and even
sleeping with the team on mats in an opponent's gym because the
team could not afford hotel rooms; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Summitt's will to win and her positive influence
on the lives of many young women led her to break glass ceilings
in coaching for 38 seasons, during which her teams captured
eight national championships and won 1,098 games; and
WHEREAS, By coaching her teams to victory 1,098 times, she
became the coach with the most wins in Division I history which
helped her achieve pay parity with a salary matching the
salaries of top men's basketball college coaches; and
WHEREAS, On April 22, 2011, she courageously announced that
she had early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 59, but
her toughness emboldened her to persevere; and
WHEREAS, She started the Pat Summitt Foundation to support
research for Alzheimer's disease; and
WHEREAS, The foundation is partnering with the University of
Tennessee Medical Center to create the Pat Summitt Alzheimer's
Clinic; and
WHEREAS, Pat Summitt's accomplishments on and off the court
were recognized outside the realm of sports when she was awarded
the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in
2012; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Summitt's accomplishments broke every glass
ceiling that was in place for women involved in athletics at the
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time and she used her toughness and her work ethic to become a
monumental figure, not just in women's sports, but in athletics
in general; and
WHEREAS, Her courageous work in advocating for Alzheimer's
disease research is paramount to learning more about the
debilitating disease; and
WHEREAS, She once said "make hard work your passion," and she
lived that statement; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate honor the life and mourn the death
of Pat Summitt, the coach with the most wins in Division I
history, a monumental figure who was at the forefront of
ascending women's athletics into the national spotlight and an
advocate for Alzheimer's disease research.
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