• 2015 CoSIDA Special Awards general announcement/release
• Special Awards feature story schedule
by Ann King, Sage Colleges Director of Sports Information
One of the best things about the sports information profession is the people we work with and get to know beyond our own campuses. For me, my best friend is an amazing and wonderful person and a colleague that will be inducted into CoSIDA’s Hall of Fame. Words cannot describe what a true ambassador Sheila Stevenson of Rowan University is for our profession, but anyone who knows her and works with her already knows that statement to be true.
Sheila has been a major factor in the development of young professionals in sports information as she has used her knowledge and skills to guide her staff in so many areas. She has and continues to teach and educate her student workers and staff as well as those around her in all facets of athletic communications and media relations.
When I first met Sheila, I did not realize at the time what a difference she would make in my life both professionally and personally. Many of us have those unique people that we work with who become more than just a person in an office down the hall or a colleague we enjoy getting to know outside of work. For me, Sheila is the person that has made a huge difference for me beyond the walls of sports information and athletic communications.
As anyone who knows her can attest, Sheila is special and goes above and beyond for countless people she meets and has always been there in the best and the worst of times. She makes a difference and we are the ones that are blessed by her wonderful gestures and acts of kindness.
For me as a newcomer to the field in the mid-1980s, she was the person at the other end of the Garden State who ran a sports communication office that sizzled with efficiency, success and organization. I dreamed that someday I could run such a shop.
As the years passed and our teams played one another more and more, I was lucky enough to get to know the person behind the success of then Glassboro State College’s sports information office. Not only did she know how to teach and guide young student workers, but she aided in the development and education of the student newspaper and student radio station workers she worked with so often. She knew NCAA policies of how to do championship press conferences, what to do and what not to do. She zoomed around her campus and the various athletic venues with ease and style! I watched. I listened. I learned and I even asked questions.
She may not even realize how much of a mentor she was and continues to be for me, even after all these years!
Her friendship is one thing I treasure the most about her. She never forgets a birthday or a special day for my family, but that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Sheila. She does so much for her extended family, the student-athletes and the staff at now Rowan University (Glassboro changed its name to Rowan in 1992 to recognize the Rowan family, $100 million dollar benefactors to the school).
Stevenson is the best role model and spokesperson for her university and our profession with what she does away from her desk. She has been an advocate for numerous causes and activities in her hometown over the years and always helps to make an impact to help others in need of a helping hand or assistance.
Named the recipient of the College Sports Information Directors of America’s Good Person Award in 1996, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Irving T. Marsh Award in 1999, and the CoSIDA Warren Berg Award in 2013, Sheila has been a true trendsetter in the sports information profession. She has always remained active in the profession, be it serving on the CoSIDA's Special Awards Committee; serving the ECAC-Sports Information Directors Association as a past president in 1989-90 and as a workshop host; working as a member of the Division III Hewlett Packard All-America Football selection committee; and on Rowan University's Hall of Fame Committee, Rowan's All-College Athletic Committee, or countless other committee service organizations. Sheila has been exemplary in her devotion to the betterment of sports information.
She is not a person that likes attention turned in her direction. Sheila strives to make a difference for others and wants little fanfare or attention for her efforts.
Sheila began her outstanding career as a student assistant at Rochester Institute of Technology and was a member of the ice hockey team during her time on campus. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in printing technology.
With her induction into CoSIDA’s Hall of Fame, she is now a member of two Hall of Fames.
In 2005, she was inducted into her alma mater’s Athletic Hall of Fame for her time as a former student-athlete. Her induction reads:
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With determination, freshman Sheila Stevenson created interest in women’s hockey at RIT. The Canton, New York native did the leg work, talked to the right people, and on March 5, 1976, her dream became a reality when RIT played its first women’s hockey contest. That initial season RIT was a club team and played two games against Cortland and St. Lawrence. Sheila played in 32 games over four seasons, recording one goal and three assists for four points. She was a four-year captain and finalist for RIT Woman Athlete of the Year as a senior. While at RIT, Stevenson worked as a student assistant in the sports information office, served as a resident advisor and was a member of Student Government and the Student Activities Board.
Her passion and dedication led her to her first position as a graduate assistant at Delta State University, before she took on a role as the sports information director at Clarkson University from 1981-82. She had stints as a graduate assistant at New Hampshire College (now Southern New Hampshire) and as an assistant SID at the University of Pennsylvania from 1984-85, before landing at Glassborn/Rowan University in May of 1985. This May marks her 31st year telling the story of the Profs and what makes Rowan University such an ideal place. I think if the truth be told, it’s Stevenson that makes Rowan such a special place.
"Sheila is one of the most generous people in our profession and is a role model to all of us,” said Fran Elia, SID at SUNY Cortland. “I'm always amazed with how she finds time for others, both in and out of work, yet still gets so much done professionally. Sheila's the ultimate professional, but even a better person, and I'm proud to call her a colleague and a friend."
That sentiment is shared by so many she works with.
Joe Cassidy, head men’s basketball coach at Rowan noted, “I believe that Sheila is as conscientious, professional, and respected SID as a school could find. Her diligence and her attention to detail are unmatched. Her ability to keep all teams, athletes and coaches updated on all of the intricacies is unparalleled. Information and statistics of the sport is incredible to me. She is in her office, long hours, on late nights, just getting the job done. Over and over again, on my travels throughout our conference, I hear the respect for her and the words, ‘Sheila is so good at what she does.’ She is a very strong athletic ambassador for Rowan University for players and teams, both past and present.”
Terry Small, Commissioner of the New Jersey Athletic Conference says of her, “I consider Sheila to be both a pioneer and a living legend in terms of her impact on intercollegiate athletics through her work in sports information. I personally am one of the hundreds of individuals that she has helped in the profession. I'll forever be grateful to her for taking the time to provide me with guidance and advice when I was looking to pursue a career in sports information.
"Of all the people that I have ever encountered in intercollegiate athletics and higher education, I don't think I've met a more selfless, honest, and hardworking individual than Sheila. She is the epitome of a professional and someone that I still consider to be a great role model. I am truly blessed to have her as both a friend and a colleague, and I can't think of a greater honor for a more deserving individual."
Larry Kimball, retired SID from Syracuse University said of Sheila. “There is a way to do a job right and Sheila has always been a leader in that belief. She brings a smile with her positive attitude. If there was an All-American team picked, she would lead it. What a lucky day for me back in 1995 when she asked, ‘Could you use some help?’ Thanks, Sheila, and congratulations on your honor.”
So it with great pride and enthusiasm that we welcome into CoSIDA's 2015 Hall of Fame Sheila Stevenson, a person who, as the honor states, has made outstanding contributions to the field of college sports information, and who by her activities, has brought dignity and prestige to our profession.