After serving Wesleyan College as Associate Athletic Director and head women's basketball coach for the past three years, Nicky DiMarzio has been promoted to Athletic Director, official as of July 1. She will continue to serve as the Wolves basketball coach.
"I am humbled and honored to take the helm of our department during this transformational time at Wesleyan College. I look forward to working collaboratively with our motivated staff to drive a culture of success and excellence and to further our student-athlete's acceptance in the classroom and on the fields of play, while developing our young women as future leaders. I am eager to work with our campus community to further integrate athletics into the Wesleyan Experience and will challenge each of our teams to perform at a more competitive level than ever before. I want to thank my predeccesor Patty Gibbs, former President Ruth Knox, and current President Vivia Fowler for their support and trust with this new opportunity."
During her tenure at Wesleyan, DiMarzio has spearheaded some major changes within the athletic department, most notably being the establishment of a Sports Management major and minor that will begin in the Fall of 2017. Having worked closely with the business faculty and President Vivia Fowler, she aided in the program's development and has hired four athletics staff members who hold Master's degrees and will serve as adjunct professors.
"As Wesleyan's new president, I am very excited to work with Nicky DiMarzio in her new role as Athletic Director," remarked President Vivia Fowler. "Nicky brings the perfect combination of skills to this position: coaching, administration, and teaching. She has assembled an experienced, well-qualified staff, including many who--like Nicky--will be involved with our new Sport Management major and Health & Physical Education courses."
DiMarzio is also responsible for the return of Cross Country to the Wesleyan athletic department for the upcoming fall season. This will increase the number of NCAA sports sponsored by the college to six in addition to its offering an IHSA Equestrian program.
Furthermore, DiMarzio facilitated Wesleyan's transition from the Great South Athletic Conference into the USA South Athletic Conference during the 2016-17 academic year. The USA South provides Wesleyan with a more stable and more competitive platform for its athletics, and Nicky regularly represents the school at meetings and conferences.
The day to day duties of the Athletic Director's office will come easily to DiMarzio, who has worked closely with her predecessor throughout her tenure at Wesleyan, becoming very familiar with the operational side of the job. She has a great deal of experience managing the operations of the athletics office, including scheduling and managing contract employees. She was also responsible for the implementation of an Academic Game Plan to assist with student academic tracking and has been an advocate for facility improvements, including updates to the coaches offices, the addition of wall graphics, and updates for both the locker rooms and team rooms.