AVRIL KING
Social Media Manager
Since 1997, SUNY Fredonia has known one person as the athletic director. Greg Prechtl was a Fredonia graduate with the class of 1969. He went on to serve as the head coach of the men’s basketball team for 23 seasons, and he eventually took the position of athletic director.
In May of 2017, Prechtl retired having served the athletic department for 44 years.
Since that time, the search for a new athletic director has been underway. A search committee of nine members has dedicated its time to finding the right person to fill the position. Three of those members are student athletes.
The pool has been narrowed to four candidates, each bringing their own individual strengths, according to Jeff Meredith, a co-chair of the search committee and head coach of the men’s hockey team.
“It’s an important position,” said Meredith. “It’s an opportunity for a new era in Fredonia athletics.”
The committee members are determined to choose the best candidate possible. That is why each candidate has gone through several rounds of interviews, met individually with former student athletes, and held public presentations on what they think a highly effective athletics department looks like.
According to Nicole Burrows, a member of the women’s lacrosse team and one of three students on the search committee, these presentations were one of the most important steps in the search process.
“Our athletic department hasn’t been doing well lately. We’ve kind of been in a stagnant spot,” she said. “We have a lot of facilities that need to be replaced, redone. We need someone that’s good at fundraising money for our department. We need someone that’s transparent and can communicate well with the coaching staff and the student athletes as well.”
Burrows is also vice president for the Student Athlete Advisory Committee at Fredonia. Therefore, how the next athletic director will interact with student athletes is one of her concerns.
“For the student athletes being able to talk to the director kind of shows . . . how an athletic director would be toward the student athletes and how they would react to certain situations that they might have,” she said.
Communication outside of the Fredonia campus is crucial to the position as well.
“It’s a pretty significant position because the athletic director not only leads the athletic department, but also oversees recreational programs for the community,” said Eileen Lyon, Faculty Athletics Representative and history professor.
One candidate is Fredonia’s own Megan Valentine. Beginning as the Assistant Director of Athletics and Recreation in 2010, she has since been serving as Interim Director of Athletics since Prechtl’s retirement in the fall.
Beyond this are three other candidates: John Czarnecki, Athletic Director for Hilbert College; Gerald Fisk, Assistant Athletic Director at Elmira College; and Bill Wilson, Athletic Director at Pratt Community College.
From this time forward, the committee will re-assemble to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate. Once the committee decides which candidate is the best choice, they will relay that information to Vice President Cedric Howard, who will ultimately make an offer to the first-choice candidate in about two-weeks’ time.
Meredith is optimistic for the appointment.
“Freshman student athletes comprise about 15 percent of Fredonia’s incoming freshman class every year, which is pretty substantial,” he said. “Having a director that will be part of that and oversee that and have their new way of doing things, it’s exciting to be a part of that process.”
He, as well as everyone involved with the athletics department, is hoping for someone who is passionate about the school and its athletes. The person who fills that description, in their opinion, is the best candidate of all.