2001 Barnard Graduate, Erinn Smart, featured in The New York Times

New York, NY, June 17, 2002 – In an article written by Lynn Zinser for the College section of The New York Times, Erinn Smart, a 2001 Barnard graduate, was quoted on her feelings surrounding the possible elimination of the women’s team foil event in the 2004 Olympics, being a minority in the sport of fencing, and her goals for the 2004 Olympics.

Smart ’01 recently represented the United States in the women’s World Cup fencing event in New York, where 140 fencers representing 24 countries competed. Smart was able to lead the U.S. to an eighth-place finish in one of her events. Smart, who began fencing when she was 12, says that fencing has become "second nature" to her. She started fencing after her parents read about the Peter Westbrook Foundation, which had started to bring minority and underprivileged children into the world of fencing. Smart became an alternate on the 2000 Olympic team.

Since team foil is one of the events that fencing’s international federation (F.I.E.) does not plan to include in the 2004 Olympics, Smart is not certain whether she will be able to show how much she and the team have improved since 2000. "We were definitely expecting to come back in 2004 with a stronger team, more developed and more experienced. We’ll see what happens with the decision."

Click here to read the full New York Times article.

Contact: Petra Tuomi, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-7907
Derin Adesida, Office of Public Affairs, 212-854-2037