04/29/10 -   People with physical disabilities are now able to enjoy the Ovens Student Pool at Queens University of Charlotte thanks to a gift from Physical Education Department Chair Phyllis Pharr.

Pharr won the 2008 Hunter-Hamilton Love of Teaching Award which recognizes outstanding commitment to helping students reach their potential.  She donated part of her $15,000 prize money to buy and install a motorized lift at the recreational pool that allows swimmers with disabilities to get in and out safely.  Pharr also gave money to help pay for a dance concert at Queens.

The lift was dedicated during a ceremony attended by donor Grey Hamilton and other Love of Teaching Award-winners who spoke about how they used their prize money.  They remembered buying printers, video cameras, upfitting music therapy rooms, and purchasing musical instruments, all to be used by Queens students and faculty. 

Pharr chairs the physical education department at Queens and was tennis coach from 1965-2000.  She has always had a desire to help women have an opportunity to participate in sport and did so at Queens through the Recreation Association, equestrian club, club teams, five Division II NCAIAW teams, and most notably the women's tennis program. 

She said the students in the 1950's had a "bucket brigade" fundraiser to build the pool.  The original plans for the Ovens building did not include a pool, and the students went door-to-door in Myers Park and in their home neighborhoods over the holidays to raise the money for one.

Queens University of Charlotte is a private, co-ed, Presbyterian-affiliated comprehensive university with a commitment to both liberal arts and professional studies. Located in the heart of historic Charlotte, Queens serves approximately 2,600 undergraduate and graduate students through its College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, the Wayland H. Cato, Jr. School of Education, the School of Communication, Hayworth College for Adult Studies and the Andrew Blair College of Health which features the Presbyterian School of Nursing.