Barry University announced plans to add five new sports in men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s swimming, and women’s beach volleyball in October 2022. The additions bring the total number of varsity sports at Barry to 18. All five programs will compete in the NCAA Division II and the Sunshine State Conference.
These five expansion sports will allow Barry to recruit more scholar athletes, who will excel in their studies and in the community, while continuing the Barry tradition of competing for national championships.
Swimming will mark a new foray for the Bucs. As the Bucs dive into the pool, they join 75 other men’s programs and 103 other women’s programs in Division II. The Bucs become the seventh men’s program and eighth women’s program in the SSC.
Beach volleyball is one of the newer NCAAsponsored sports with 82 teams across all three divisions. Barry becomes the sixth school to sponsor beach volleyball in the SSC, along with Eckerd, Florida Southern, Palm Beach Atlantic, Saint Leo, and Tampa.
The crosscountry programs return after being discontinued in 1992.
New School
The Barry University College of Health and Wellness was established this September. This new venture will secure the demand for nurses in the current healthcare workforce. Part of the College of Health and Wellness and the School of Social Work, the School of Nursing will support all programs that are health-related.
“As a nurse who migrated to fill critical U.S. workforce gaps in the 1990s,” says Tony Umadhay, Dean of the School of Nursing. “I am once again humbled by the opportunity to serve during this pivotal transition phase of the 2020 pandemic.”
50,000 Meals. 4 Hours.
In November, the Barry University Health & Sports Center was alive with activity as students and employees raced to prepare 50,000 food packs for communities in need in only four hours. The annual event, a partnership with Cross Catholic Outreach, featured a human assembly line, with tables lined with student, faculty, and staff volunteers preparing the packs in record time. The number of meals prepared was increased by 10,000 meals from last year to make the goal that much more challenging. The packed meals were delivered to those in the local and global communities experiencing food insecurity and fed up to 200,000 people.
Pedro Pan Exhibit
The Barry University Institute for Immigration Studies, which promotes education and understanding of the South Florida immigrant experience, partnered with Operation Pedro Pan Group, Inc., to launch The Pedro Pan Living Legacy Exhibit at Barry’s new exhibition space in the Monsignor William Barry Memorial Library in November.
The Pedro Pan Exhibit features photographs, documents, and artifacts that tell the story of those 14,000 Cuban children who were brought to the United States from Cuba between 1960 and 1962 during governmental transitions in the country. The event celebrated Pedro Pan participants and their families, and included the construction of a Legacy Wall of Honor, complete with photos.