Even for a tennis player, Drew student Beth Whalley Mitchell kept a lot of balls in the air. Beth Whalley came to Drew with a strong record in tennis, even though her high school lacked a tennis program. She was ranked #2 in Girls' 18-and-under singles in the Middle Atlantic Lawn Tennis Association and Region in 1969, was a member of the United States Junior Wightman Cup Team from 1967 to 1969, and played in the U.S.L.T.A. tournament. After high school she continued to play, but did not compete, for several years of searching for direction and working as a Christian folk singer. Paul Hardin, then President of Drew, encouraged her to enroll as a first step toward ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church.
Beth returned to tennis competition in her first year at Drew, emerging undefeated in all of her regular season matches, earning MVP honors, and winning the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Collegiate singles championship in 1977--the first title won by a Drew tennis player. As co-captain of the 7-3 team in 1978, she was again named MVP; she went 10-0 in the number one singles spot during the regular season and captured the MAC singles title for the second year in a row. Beth continues to rank as one of Drew's best tennis players, and still speaks warmly of Eleanor Mason's coaching and support.
Success on the courts did not preclude other achievements for Beth. This member of the first group Drew elected to Phi Beta Kappa graduated magna cum laude with a major in behavioral science, and a major in education at the College of St. Elizabeth, in 1980. Her activities ranged from the University Center Board to the Alpha and Omega Christian fellowship, from the International Students Association to singing in and managing the coffeehouse with her husband, Eric Robin Mitchell (G'79, G'85), to whom she was married in April 1978.
