My journey to attend Davis & Elkins College for a liberal arts education is the best decision I have ever made, and I believe it is inseparable from what I have done with my life since.
I received my bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. The liberal arts education which encompassed that has positively impacted my career and life.
I came to the Olympic Training Center as an aspiring Olympic hopeful, and I have never left. Currently, I am the manager for alumni relations for the United States Olympic Committee in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I first arrived here in 1978 as a student-athlete trying to make the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Although the U.S. did not participate in these games, I was fortunate to make the next three U.S. Olympic handball teams in 1984, 1988, and 1992–in part because of the confidence I gained from my liberal arts education.
My liberal arts education reached beyond those decades and gave me the foundation on which I have stood for the last 35 years of my personal and professional life. The size of Davis & Elkins and the commitment of the faculty allowed me to be involved in many aspects of college life. As a result, my liberal arts education instilled in me a confidence that has served me well in all areas and helped me build my leadership skills.
My decision to go to a liberal arts college was based on the people, the opportunities it provided, and the notion that it was big enough to make a difference and small enough to care.
Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator, historian, and founder of the International Olympic Committee and father of the modern Olympic Games, stated, “The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.”
I believe this saying very much parallels one of the most important parts and advantages of a liberal arts education. You have the opportunity to take part and build a confidence and identity that will serve you and society in your life journey.
Cindy Stinger is the manager of alumni relations for the United States Olympic Committee and a three-time Olympian, having been a member of the U.S. Olympic women’s handball team in 1992, 1988, and 1984. During her outstanding athletic career, she has earned multiple top achievements including United States Pan American Team–Women’s Team Handball Gold Medal in 1987; Pan American Games Team Handball Most Valuable Player in 1987; and USA Team Handball Athlete of the Year in 1987, 1983, 1982, and 1978. She delivered the athletes’ oath at the opening ceremonies of the 1987 Pan American Games.
From 1987 through the spring of 1996, Stinger worked for the United States Olympic Committee’s drug control program, was the manager for youth and community programs, and served as manager for the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). She was the USOC selection for the Beijing Olympic torch relay in 2008 and the Salt Lake Olympic torch relay in 2002, among many other honors.
Stinger graduated from Davis & Elkins College in 1981 with a bachelor’s of science in physical education. She was a member of the field hockey, basketball, and softball teams. In 1988, she was the first female inducted into the Davis & Elkins College Athletic Hall of Fame.