Bridgewater College

VIDEO: EARLE FIKE HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

Dr. Earle Fike, Jr., entered Bridgewater College in the fall of 1947, and by graduation in 1951, he achieved the distinction of becoming the first-ever 1,000 point scorer in basketball. A three-sport athlete, he won four letters in basketball, two in tennis and one in track & field. A native of Broadway, Va., he finished as one of the all-time greats in Bridgewater Basketball.

Earle helped the Eagle basketball program to 23 victories during his career, including an outstanding 14-4 season in 1947-48, when that team qualified for a bid in the Mason-Dixon Tournament. That season's win total stayed tied as the best in school history until the 1987 team eclipsed it. A tremendous all-around player, Earle scored 1,013 career points on his way to being the first Eagle to reach that milestone. During one game in his career, Earle totaled 16 points in just a minute-and-a-half in a contest against Towson State. He would graduate with cum laude honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bridgewater in 1951, a year in which he served as student body president and was also elected to "Who's Who in American Colleges".

Earle devoted his life's career to the ministry, and in 1954 achieved his Bachelors of Divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary. He would also gain his Masters of Theology from Bethany in 1964 and did postgraduate studies at Northwestern University. He was ordained to the Ministry in the Church of the Brethren in the Northern District of Virginia in 1952. He would go on to serve as a minister at Meyersdale from 1954-57, Chicago First (Ill.) 1957-63, Elizabethtown 1978-87 and Stone Church (Pa.) 1987-92. He was a teacher at Bethany Theological Seminary from 1964-69 and served on the Executive Parish Ministries Commission General Board from 1969-78. Earle was voted the Moderator of the Church of the Brethren in 1982, and he has served on the Juniata College and Bethany Seminary Board of Trustees. Bridgewater College recognized Earle for his works as he was awarded the Doctor of Humane Letters in 1972, and was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 1982.

Earle's contributions to the College as a student-athlete and his unending work in the Ministry makes him an outstanding selection to the Bridgewater College Athletic Hall of Fame.