Walter S. "Buzz" Congram has been elected to the Northeastern Hall of Fame for his devotion of over two decades to the men's crew program.
Congram coached the men's crew for 23 seasons, stepping aside earlier this year to serve as Director of Men's Crew. He will retire this June. In 1978, Congram took over for Ernie Arlett, who founded the program in 1965. Until this season, their two coaching careers had encompassed the entire 36 years of NU rowing. Arlett quickly established a tradition of success for the Huskies in his 13 years at the helm and Congram accelerated the pace.
His record for 23 seasons against the absolute best in collegiate rowing was 83 wins and 63 losses. In the Eastern Sprints, Congram's Huskies advanced to the Grand Final 14 of 23 times, including nine of the last 10. His crews won bronze medals in 1981 and '88 and silver in 1991 and '95.
At the prestigious IRA Regatta, his crews excelled. Congram brought NU its first IRA gold in 1988 and then followed with another first-place finish in 1991. In 1980, the Huskies silvered, and then in 1978, '81, '83, '89, and '93 they marched to the medal platform to collect bronzes. The most poignant time in the Congram era came in 1988 when en route to the IRA a van accident caused the death of popular boatman Charlie Smith. Congram rallied his emotional rowers to the championship.
In an era when the Cincinnati Regatta (1982-95) was considered the national championship and not the IRA, the Huskies finished second in 1991 by only .27 seconds to Pennsylvania, second to Harvard in '88, and third in '89 and '95.
In 1981, Congram's crews won the Rowe Cup for overall excellence at the Eastern Sprints and in 1988, he was voted Coach of the Year as his varsity shell finished third at the Sprints and first in the IRA. He also distinguished himself in international circles, coaching in the World Championships. In 1976, Congram directed the U.S. men's lightweight eight to a bronze, and in 1983 his women's four won the silver.
Congram came to NU in 1978 after coaching the Yale freshmen for seven years, the Rutgers frosh for five and Columbia for three. His collegiate rowing history consisted of one season on the varsity crew at Columbia in 1962. However, he had just finished a distinguished career as a tight end for the Old Blue football team. After graduating in '62, he started his coaching career while earning his MBA at Columbia.
In his honor the annual Northeastern-Rutgers race will henceforth be rowed as the Congram Cup.
