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Stepping Up for Ouachita luncheon honors Cathryn Berryman

November 27, 2018 - Rachel Moreno

Ouachita Baptist University honored alumna Cathryn Berryman of Dallas, Texas, during its ninth Stepping Up for Ouachita luncheon on Friday, Nov. 16, at the Benton Event Center. Berryman, a 1988 Ouachita graduate, currently serves as a shareholder in Winstead’s Intellectual Property Practice Group in Dallas, which focuses on domestic and international intellectual property licensing and transactional work.

The annual Stepping Up for Ouachita luncheon benefits outstanding Ouachita women as participants have the opportunity to invest in scholarship funds that directly impact students’ lives and their collegiate experience.

“We are all here for the same reason,” Berryman said. “We understand the importance of investing in scholarships specifically for women. We are here to give these women an opportunity for an education and collegiate experience that can directly impact their lives and futures for the common good. But not an ordinary undergrad experience—it’s the Ouachita experience, and there truly is a difference.”

As each luncheon is unique to the life and accomplishments of the honoree, this year’s luncheon had a particular focus on friendship, family and service. Berryman was honored with personal testimonies from life-long friends and Ouachita classmates and was introduced by her brother, Andy Berryman. Additionally, Ouachita graduate and Nashville songwriter Marcia Ramirez Waldron performed her song “God and My Girlfriends.”

Dr. Ben Sells, Ouachita’s president, congratulated Berryman on her Stepping Up recognition and the example she provides to female students. “Your life exemplifies the higher ideals of Ouachita and your actions demonstrate what it means to be Stepping Up for Ouachita.”

Berryman resides in Dallas, Texas, and is a member of Park Cities Baptist Church. She serves as a member of the American Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the Dallas Regional Chamber. Among her many professional recognitions, D Magazine recognized Berryman as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” for 2018 and one of the “Best Women Lawyers in Dallas” in 2010. Berryman also has been recognized in Woodward/White Inc.’s The Best Lawyers in America from 2011-2019 and named 2015 “Lawyer of the Year” in Dallas Trademark Law by the same publication.

Berryman accepted the recognition as the 2018 Stepping Up honoree, “only that Ouachita women may benefit from the spotlight on me,” she said.

Originally from Arkadelphia, Berryman is the daughter of the late Dr. Jim Berryman, a 1957 Ouachita graduate and longtime Ouachita professor of religion and philosophy, and Mrs. Mary Anne Berryman, previously a school teacher at Perritt Primary School. Berryman went on to say that it was her parents’ decisions to invest their lives in Ouachita that shaped her life and her success.

“Other universities are designed to impact knowledge, or to teach a skill or task, all to increase your intelligence and expand minds,” Berryman said. “But Ouachita, in contrast, is further designed to impart wisdom…all to increase your emotional intelligence and to impact hearts.”

While attending Ouachita, Berryman was recognized as Outstanding Senior Woman for her involvement on campus. She served as vice president of Ouachita’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta history honor society and was a member of Chi Delta women’s social club, Ouachi-tones vocal ensemble, International Relations Club, Young Democrats, Debate Team, Academic Exceptions Committee and Alpha Chi national honor fraternity. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history in 1988 and went on to earn her juris doctor degree from Vanderbilt University Law School in 1991.

Berryman specifically mentioned her involvement in the Ouachi-tones and the investment of its director, Mary Shambarger, as influences that have since shaped her career, as well the friendships of her Ouachita friends and women in her field.

“Gender equality is the aspiration of women in my lifetime. Our goal is not to tear men down; our goal is to build women up,” she said. “I was taught that tenant from a very young age from the women in my life…I think you can now understand the why for me. I’ve made this tenant a key cornerstone of my career to support other women.”

Judy Shaddox, a 1983 Ouachita graduate, served as chair of this year’s Stepping Up steering committee.

“When you graduate from Ouachita, they don’t close the gate,” Shaddox said. “They are cheering you on—cheering for what your goals are in life, what you are going to accomplish in the future, your family. What we are doing here today, and each year, through Stepping Up is really cheering on women before they graduate, as well as after.”

By Rachel Moreno // Lead photo by Carey Roberson. Download full photo here.

November 27, 2018