STEUBENVILLE, OHIO—Franciscan University of Steubenville’s 55th Annual Baron Club Awards Dinner will feature former NFL All-Pro and Super Bowl Champ Matt Birk as keynote speaker. Baron Club honorees will include Boston College women’s basketball coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee and well-known Steubenville community leader Tom Timmons. The Kuzma Community Award will be presented to the Carol and Todd Phillipson family.

The event will be held at Franciscan University’s Finnegan Fieldhouse on Thursday, April 25, starting with a reception at 6:00 p.m. and dinner and program at 7:00 p.m.

A well-known public speaker, Birk will share inspirational stories and hard-won wisdom from his successful 15-year NFL career with the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens. He was an All-Pro Center, 6-time Pro Bowl selection, and recipient of the 2011 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award for his excellence on and off the field. While Birk excelled as an athlete on the field—he helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII—he is also recognized for his academic and professional success. A Harvard graduate and devout Catholic, he was named the sixth-smartest athlete in 2010 by Sporting News and is the author of All-Pro Wisdom: The 7 Choices That Lead to Greatness. He speaks to many groups across the U.S. about his Catholic faith, pro-life issues, leadership, teamwork, and how to fulfill your God-given potential.

The Baron Club honorees this year will include Joanna Bernabei-McNamee, who just completed her 6th season as head coach of women’s basketball at Boston College. A graduate of Weirton Madonna High School, she later attended West Liberty University and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. The West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference named her Player of the Year in 1997. After serving as head women’s basketball coach at the University of Albany for two seasons, she continues her successful career at Boston College.

Tom Timmons will also be a Baron Club honoree this year. With a long and successful career in banking, he has also made an incredible impact as a leader in the community. He has been actively involved in many local organizations, including the Steubenville City School board, the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, United Way of Jefferson County, Ohio Valley Health Center, and Steubenville Kiwanis Club. He is a trustee of the Charles M. and Thelma M. Pugliese Charitable Foundation.

The Kuzma Community Award will be presented to the Carol and Todd Phillipson family who transformed a family tragedy into a force for good in the local community. They lost their daughter Cynthia in 2014 when she suffered cardiac arrest while at basketball practice. In her honor, they founded the Cynthia Rose Phillipson Charitable Foundation whose mission is to provide scholarships to Steubenville schools. The foundation has also supported Mary’s Meals, which has been providing school lunches to children in the world’s poorest communities, such as in Africa where a school lunchroom has been named after Cynthia.

Dinner reservations are $90 each, or $125, which includes dinner and Baron Club membership. Sponsorship opportunities range from $500 to $5,000 and include the opportunity for a photo with the speakers. Register at alumni.franciscan.edu/BaronClub2024 or email[email protected].