Snell named new athletic director

President Ray M. Keck, III, and Mr. Jose Garcia, vice president for Finance and Administration, introduced Dr. Debbie Snell as the new athletic director on March 22.

The announcement was made during a press conference held in the lobby of the Kinesiology and Convocation building. Students, athletes, coaches, reporters, faculty, and community members were present to meet the new director.

Garcia explained the long process taken by the committee before hiring Dr. Snell. First, applications were taken and plenty of interviews were held by telephone. The lengthy list was then narrowed down to the finalists, including Dr. Snell, and the finalists were brought on campus for open interviews. Finally, after the committee made recommendations, the election of Dr. Snell took place.

Dr. Snell obtained her Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees at the University of Arkansas.

Before taking her new position, she was the athletic director at Campbell University in North Carolina, a NCAA Division I school. Prior to that, Snell was an assistant athletic director at Palm Beach, Florida, a basketball coach and a teacher.

Snell spoke about her four main goals as an athletic director.

"Our goals will be to work together to model a NCAA program, we will become consistent by staying at the top of the conference with all of our teams, we will make sure our student athletes become involved in the community, and we will make sure that our athletes attend class and graduate as productive citizens," said Snell.

"We will be changing lives through academics and athletics," added Snell.

Snell is also welcoming any local athletes or any other students that are not recruited but still want to be part of the team.

She said, "Many times the problem with low number of students at try-outs is due to lack of information; however, our department will make sure to provide and advertise that type of information."

Athletes can also expect more fans at the games from now on, thus making our school transition from a commuter campus to a spirited one.

Snell adds, "Game day nights will be announced and special activities of interest will be promoted to get students to come and stay throughout the entire game."

Dr. Snell will be arriving on May 2, along with her family to start her new role as athletic director.