General | 03.02.2020

LEWISTON, Idaho – Lewis-Clark State College athletic director Brooke Henze and former director of the Small Business Development Center at LC State and retired banker Helen LeBoeuf have been selected as the recipients of the college's 3rd annual Women Leadership Awards. Henze, along with the rest of the honorees, will be honored during the Women's Leadership Conference held at LC State on Friday, March 6.

Henze became athletic director at the college on July 1, 2017 and has led a strong athletic department that has featured top three national finishes by men's basketball and men's cross country and a sixth-place finish by baseball during the past year. During the last two years, LC State has qualified a team or a player to national competition in 11 of the school's 12 sports. Also, last month, the LC athletic department honored 117 student-athletes who received a 3.0 grade point average or better during the 2019 fall semester, including 21 who had a perfect 4.0 GPA.
 
Prior to becoming athletic director, Henze served as associate athletic director for seven years and assistant athletic director for three years. She has worked at the college 14 years overall.
 
This past year, she was diagnosed with cancer, but has undergone successful treatment and recently returned to work full-time.
 
In her nomination form, it stated "Brooke has always been a very driven woman, from her playing days on the LCSC women's basketball team to her current battle to overcome cancer. Brooke's work ethic is remarkable. She is determined to succeed and to help those around her succeed as well by clearing whatever obstacles that may hold them back. Brooke is at every home athletic event, which means for long days and weekends, but is the first to jump in to help others.
 
"Brooke is successful in everything that she does. She is a hard-worker who sets the bar high but is able to reach those goals and accomplish great things. Through all of this, she is very humble, often deflecting the spotlight and accolades to others. Brooke is a great role model, leader, athletic director, mother, and woman."
 
Henze also has served as the director for the Avista NAIA World Series since 2011. She plays an instrumental role in fundraising, operations, and event management at the college. She also has served as director of the Warrior Athletic Association, the college's athletic booster club, since 2009.
 
Henze has earned several honors during her time at the college. In 2017, she won the Robert Ish Smith Award from the NAIA Baseball Coaches Executive Committee for "unselfish promotion of NAIA baseball." In 2019, she won the Rising Star Young Alumna Award from the LCSC Alumni Association.
 
A former student-athlete, Henze played basketball at LC State from 1997-2001 and helped the team qualify for the NAIA National Tournament all four years. During her senior year, the Warriors advanced to the final four, which at the time was the best finish in program history. She graduated from the college in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in communications.

Tickets are still available for the 3rd annual LC State Women's Leadership Conference, which will run 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the college's Center for Arts & History, located at 415 Main St. in Lewiston. Tickets for the conference can be purchased online at www.lcsc.edu/ce/cewlc by clicking on the "Register Online Here" button.
 
This year's conference has the theme of "Extraordinary Women in Pursuit of Ordinary Equality: Past, Present and Future" and celebrates 100 years of a woman's right to vote in the United States.
 
Registration for the event Is $55, which includes workshops throughout the day, lunch and a keynote speech by Lucienne Beard, who is the executive director for the Alice Paul Institute. She will talk on "Alice Paul: Crusader for Equality."
 
For more information on the event, contact the LC State Community Education office at cece@lcsc.edu or 208-792-2447.