UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Smeal College of Business alumna G. Bailey Symington’s eyes light up when she talks about student-athletes she considers to be a “triple threat.”
“To me, a triple threat is someone who is a great student and a great athlete. But they are also exceedingly kind,” Symington said.
This is the type of athlete Symington wanted to be as a member of the Penn State women’s tennis team in the 1970s, she said, and it is the type of student-athlete she hopes will one day benefit from her estate commitment to endow the G. Bailey Symington Triple Threat Scholarship.
Symington, just a few years younger than tennis greats such as Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, said she first picked up a tennis racquet when she was 7. By the age of 12, she won the Pennsylvania state championship in her age bracket and was ranked among the top tennis players in the country.
While she enjoyed playing the game, she said she knew she wanted to earn a college degree. She knew Penn State would allow her to do both.
Several factors, including the demands of traveling to away matches and a lack of academic support for athletes, led to her decision to leave the team after her first year.
“It was a hard decision,” she said. “There was the love of the game and the pride of playing for Penn State, but things were different for women in the 1970s than they are today. I realized I needed to prioritize my education, so I left the team to focus on my studies.”
By creating this scholarship, Symington said she wanted female athletes to feel empowered and inspired to succeed at Penn State.
When realized, the G. Bailey Symington Triple Threat Scholarship will be awarded to students enrolled or planning to enroll in Smeal who are members of a women’s varsity athletic team. Whenever possible, the first preference will be for a women’s varsity tennis team member.
“Penn State is committed to providing opportunities to help students succeed inside and outside the classroom,” said Charles H. Whiteman, John and Karen Arnold Dean. “Bailey’s gift to endow a scholarship that supports student-athletes at Smeal reflects the value she places on higher education and helping our students grow to be well-rounded individuals. I’m incredibly grateful for her vision and trust in Penn State to deliver a world-class education to its students.”
Symington graduated with a degree in management in 1979, but, unlike many of her peers, she did not have a job lined up by graduation day. Instead, she decided to spend time with her aunt and uncle in Virginia Beach.
“My uncle told me two important things that summer. First, he told me that I could do anything that I put my mind to, and then, he told me I should consider a career in sales,” she said. “My first job was selling advertising space on billboards.”
Symington said she also spent time in radio sales before taking a shot as an entrepreneur.
She was president and founder of GBS Creative Media from 1987 to 1990. In that role, she conceived, developed and executed marketing campaigns for clients, including promotional efforts, copywriting and budgeting. She also negotiated and purchased print, radio and television advertising.
She was named national sales manager/account executive for WTKR-TV in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1990 and, in 2002, was named multi-media account executive at WXIA/WATL TV in Atlanta. All told, she spent more than 30 years in television sales.
Symington retired in 2021.
“I’ve always considered time to be more valuable than money, but I am happy to have enough money to be able to give back to Penn State,” she said. “Even as a young girl, education was important to me. What better gift could you give?”
Donors like Symington advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients, and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.