Pat came to Carleton in 1962 as a physical education instructor and retired after a 32-year career as Professor Emerita of Physical Education, Athletics, and Recreation. As Carleton’s first director of women’s athletics (1970-1985), Pat was a pioneer in women’s physical education and acted as an influential leader in the early development of increased sports opportunities for women, not only at Carleton, but also at the state, regional, and national levels. In 1970, Ele, along with her life partner Pat Lamb, began to purchase yellow sweats for women Carleton athletes. They insisted on the color for “safety” purposes at the time but also to make a statement and create a sense of identity and pride for women athletes on campus.
Pat supervised the development of 12 varsity athletic programs, coaching many of them herself, especially tennis. Ele and Pat’s advocacy positioned Carleton as an early model for providing wide-ranging physical education for women. Pat’s passion for her work was most evident when the path was rocky as she occasionally used tactics like threatening to begin a hunger strike on the tennis courts in the basement of Cowling.
Pat’s influence on the lives of all those around her was profound. She was a deeply caring person, an influential teacher, and an inspiring role model for generations of students and colleagues. Coaching was to her a vehicle to teach values and help young women grow into themselves and therefore she was often sought out as a counselor, mentor, and friend. More information about both Ele and Pat can be found in this Voice Article.
The Pat Lamb Award is given to recognize two outstanding senior female athletes who have achieved athletic excellence at the varsity level and a high level of academic achievement. One award is given for team sports and another for individual sports. The Lamb Award is voted on by all head coaches of varsity women’s sports and the director and assistant director of Rec Center programs.
This award will be presented at the Annual Knights Awards Banquet.