UNCG Athletics: Jim and Betty Allen earn SoCon Distinguished Service Award

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG supporters Jim and Betty Allen have been announced as recipients of the Southern Conference’s Distinguished Service Award for 2012. They, along with honorees from the 11 other league schools, will be honored at the Southern Conference Honors Dinner in Asheville, N.C., on Wednesday.

As the first Presbyterian Campus Minister and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Jim Allen was essential in mapping the future of UNCG. In 1985, he was charged with administrative oversight of the Intercollegiate Athletics program’s move from NCAA Division III to Division I in just five years, which at the time was a feat never attempted.

The Allens, who are lifetime members of the Spartan Club, have two endowed scholarships that were created in honor of Jim Allen following his retirement in May 1996.

Jim Allen was inducted into UNCG’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003.

The Distinguished Service Award program was started in 2002 as a way for the SoCon to recognize individuals from its member institutions who have contributed to all aspects of the university. The rest of this year’s honorees include: David Allen Vaughn (Appalachian State), John M. Rivers, Jr. (College of Charleston), Thomas R. Culler (The Citadel), William D. Vinson (Davidson), Cecil and JoAnna Worsley (Elon), James M. and Carol N. Ney (Furman), Richard T. Evans (Georgia Southern), Dr. Larry W. Cox (Samford), Dean and Mary Jane Heavener (Chattanooga), Fred Q. Cantler (Western Carolina) and Dr. Mack C. Poole III and Dr. Melvin D. Medlock (Wofford).