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Cole to chair DII Management Council; six new members elected

Rick Cole, vice president of athletics at Dowling, has been elected to serve as chair of the Division II Management Council, effective at the conclusion of the 2011 Convention.

Cole will succeed Kathleen Brasfield of Angelo State, who has served in that capacity since January. The Management Council elected Cole at its October meeting, and the Presidents Council ratified the selection at its meeting the following week.

In five years at Dowling, Cole has added women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and men’s cross country as NCAA-sponsored varsity sports while also elevating 12 coaches to full-time status. He also has conducted a gender-equity review to ensure the department’s compliance with Title IX; completed an NCAA institutional self-study and compliance blueprint; and expanded the sports medicine department in both staffing and equipment, among other things.

Cole also was instrumental in the planning and development of a $12.5 million complex that opened in the spring 2008 and is now the home of the Golden Lions soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball programs.

This year, the Dowling SAAC raised more than $17,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a record for any institution in the history of the division-wide initiative. 

Before joining Dowling, Cole served as senior associate athletics director for external affairs at St. John’s (New York) and Stony Brook’s associate athletic director for external affairs and advancement.

Cole received his bachelor’s and master’s from Buffalo.

In addition to Cole’s election, the Management Council elected six new members who will begin service at the conclusion of the 2011 Convention. They are:

• Kris Dunbar, senior woman administrator, Lake Superior State, representing the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (replacing Tim Selgo of Grand Valley State).
• Brent Wren, faculty athletics representative, Alabama-Huntsville, representing the Gulf South Conference (replacing Herb Reinhard of Valdosta State).
• Jared Mosley, director of athletics, Abilene Christian, representing the Lone Star Conference (replacing Brasfield).
• Dan Kenney, director of athletics, UNC Pembroke, representing the Peach Belt Conference (replacing Glenn Stokes of Columbus State).
• Steve Poston, director of athletics, Wingate, representing the South Atlantic Conference (replacing David Riggins of Mars Hill).
• Janet Montgomery, senior woman administrator, West Alabama (replacing Suzanne Sanregret of Michigan Tech, at large).

The Presidents Council also re-elected Molloy President Drew Bogner to another one-year term as chair.