Alumnae Awards

The highest honor an NCS alumna can receive is the Bettie Warner Thompson '46 Lifetime Achievement Award, annually recognizing one alumna who has gone above and beyond in service and dedication to our community. On the occasion of her 65th Reunion, we are proud to honor Betsy Christenberry Holleman Burke’s extraordinary, lifelong commitment to National Cathedral School.

In the fifteen years since receiving the Volunteer Achievement Award, Betsy has remained a dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer for National Cathedral School. A treasured member of the Class of 1960, she has served on her Reunion Committee numerous times—including this year—and continues to inspire her classmates through her role as Class Agent, working closely with the Development Office to foster philanthropic support and deepen alumnae engagement. Betsy exemplifies the spirit of giving, holding membership in the school’s most distinguished philanthropic circles: 1900 Society, Satterlee Society, and Cornerstone Society. Her devotion to NCS extends across generations. Her daughter, Lily Holleman Leirness ’98, is an alumna; her granddaughter Schuyler Holleman ’20 is celebrating her 5th Reunion this spring; her step-granddaughter, Charlotte Bear is a junior and her namesake, Pope Brown, attended for five years. Betsy's love of the Cathedral has been an important part of her life and she has served on the Cathedral's Flower Guild for over three decades.

Beginning at a young age, PC was instilled with the values of to whom much is given, much is expected; and the importance of sharing your talents. These principals have undergirded her commitment to support education.  
Over the years she has strived to share her time, talents, and treasures in support of her school and church communities. She has served on the National Cathedral School Governing Board and various iterations of the Alumnae Association, as well as been involved with the creation of the Black Alumnae Association. She has interviewed NCS students for Princeton University, served on the Alumni Council of Princeton, and was involved with the establishment of the Princeton Prize in Race Relations—which recognizes high school students who have made significant efforts to advance racial equity and understanding in their schools or communities—and has served on the national board of that organization and led and continues to participate as a member of the DC regional committee. She is an active member of her class at Yale School of Management and a founding donor of an endowed scholarship sponsored by the Class of 1982. She served for many years—unofficially when her mother was on the committee and later officially as a co-chair—of the Scholarship Committee of Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, DC, which awarded scholarships and planned events recognizing graduates from elementary through college/university levels. She currently is actively involved with the Alfred Street Baptist Church Foundation, which provides scholarships to students in the DMV, and has a leadership role on the committee that plans the recognition ceremony for Alfred Street Baptist Church members who are graduates of pre-K through college/university levels. In addition to providing financial support to the schools she attended and other education-related causes, she has created memorial gifts: a technology prize for graduating seniors at the high school her parents attended in Winston-Salem, NC; a grant supporting programming at the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University; rights to name a literary alcove in the Gray Library at NCS after her mother, an English professor, and cousin, a librarian in Montgomery County Public Schools. For PC, it is an honor and a privilege to serve.