BEREA, Ky. – Angela Dean has been named the head coach of the Berea College softball program, Director of Athletics Ryan Hess has announced.

"I am delighted to be a part of the wonderful Berea College Mountaineer family," Dean said. "Getting to know the team has been a great experience and I am extremely excited to get started with them. I want to say thank you to Director of Athletics Ryan Hess for trusting me to lead this program. Also, thank you to the current players and the Berea College search committee for their support."

In addition to her head coaching responsibilities, Dean will assist the athletics communications department as an Athletics Communications and Events Assistant.

Before arriving at Berea, Dean has spent 24 years coaching collegiate softball, two years as an assistant coach at the University of the Cumberlands, 21 years as the head coach of the Patriots, and one year as the head coach at Asbury University. As the head coach of the Patriots, Dean led her program to the 2017 NAIA National Tournament, two Mid-South Conference Tournament Championships, and was voted Mid-South Conference Coach of the Year.

Along with her softball coaching duties at the Cumberlands, Dean also served as the assistant volleyball coach for eight years and the head coach for one year.
Dean played softball for the Patriots from 1985-1989 where she was voted to the All-KIAC and All-KWIC teams. Angela earned a bachelor's degree in Science- Education to go with her athletic career at the Cumberlands.

"Coach Dean has extensive college coaching experience, especially here in this area," Hess says. "She has demonstrated a passion for the game and truly cares about developing the student-athletes in her program as people and players. We have a great group here right now and I'm excited to see what this team can accomplish under the leadership of Coach Dean and Coach Daniels."

About Berea College:
Berea College achieved national distinction as the first coeducational and interracial college in the South. With an emphasis on service to the people of Appalachia and beyond, Berea enrolls 1,600-plus students from more than 40 states and 70 countries. The College has a longstanding commitment to interracial education; here, people of different races seek to learn from and about each other, while also living together. Berea is among the most racially diverse private liberal arts colleges in the United States. It admits only students whose families are unable to afford the high cost of tuition and awards each of them a four-year tuition scholarship valued at $200,000, meaning no student ever pays tuition. Ninety-eight percent of Berea's domestic students are Pell-eligible, probably the highest percentage in the country.  They excel in the College's supportive but demanding academic environment, and many are the first in their families to graduate from college. In addition to an excellent liberal arts education, Berea is one of eight federally-recognized Work Colleges, requiring all students to participate in a work program 10-15 hours per week in a variety of positions across campus.