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Morgan Romans: Eastern Kentucky University
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
by Doug Vance, CoSIDA Executive Director
Although she is still just months into her first full-time sports information job,
Morgan Romans has no hesitation when asked what motivates her each morning as she heads into the office every day.
“I love this job and what I do for a living,” said Romans, who was hired last May as assistant director in the Eastern Kentucky University Sports Communications office and oversees softball, volleyball along with men’s and women’s tennis.
“It doesn’t feel like work,” she adds. “For me, it’s fun. It’s almost like a hobby. There’s always something different waiting to be done.”
Love of job, enthusiasm for the profession, and commitment to enhancing job skills are certainly great motivators in the real world of sports information and Romans is the perfect example. Her boss, Kevin Britton, is one of her biggest fans and has had a ringside seat in watching her talents grow.
“Morgan’s high character, intelligence, motivation, love for the industry, desire to succeed and ability to excel at new tasks convinced me that she was the right person to hire as our assistant director,” says Britton, assistant athletics director for communications at Eastern Kentucky.
With Karl Park, former Eastern Kentucky SID and now
EKU’s Athletics Hall of Fame Executive Director, at the
2016 Ohio Valley Conference basketball tournament
when Romans was a student assistant.
“She has a very bright future in this profession,” Britton adds. “It’s not hard at all to imagine her being a CoSIDA Rising Star in the next couple of years. Morgan is a great role model for any young person that wishes to get into this field.”
Working back at her alma mater, Romans essentially carved her own career path by paying her dues as a four-year student assistant in the sports communication office at EKU. From lugging heavy boxes or equipment up through the football stadium stands to reach the elevator-less press box, to working weekends and handling social media aspects of the job for mostly pats on the back and a little spending money, Romans quickly fell in love with the job and doesn’t mind earning a paycheck for doing work she enjoys.
A career in college sports is a stark contrast to her original plans upon enrolling at Eastern Kentucky. After interning during her senior year in high school in the local sheriff’s office in her hometown of Versailles, Indiana, Romans had her sights set on criminal justice with dreams of being either a social worker or lawyer.
“I kind of fell into the job,” recalls Romans. “I was helping out in the marketing office and found out they had a paid position in sports communication. I wasn’t even aware something like that was out there. But, it looked like fun so I took it and have never looked back.”
She changed her major to sports management and landed two helpful internships along the way with a national sports marketing, public relations and event management firm and also with the University of Kentucky sports marketing department.
Romans established herself as a budding star in the profession between her junior and senior year by being selected as one of just two recipients of CoSIDA’s $3,000 Fred Nuesch & Dave Wohlhueter Undergraduate Scholarship Award.
Romans and EKU Athletics Digital Broadcast and
Video Coordinator David Miller call a soccer match.
“That was quite an honor for me and served as a motivation in helping grow my job skills,” says Romans.
Beyond her specific sport responsibilities, Romans also assists in helping coordinate the athletic department website and social media content. She helps manage the football pressbox on game day and assists at men’s and women’s basketball games. Lots of hours and many responsibilities …. a routine all too familiar to those in the profession.
“I think my strength is probably statistics and I really enjoy the give-and-take with student assistants in the office,” says Romans. “I get a lot of satisfaction watching them grow and develop.”
Despite her commitment to the seemingly never-ending duties of her job, Romans does maintain a degree of balance in her life. She laughingly points toward two contrasting options when she needs to unwind and peel away work stress in her life.
“I like to go to the gym and workout,” she explains. “I also like to hike. That’s the good news.”
A quick check of her Twitter bio offers a hint of the other option she has, literally, on her plate. It reads, “Just a girl sitting in front of a salad asking it to be a donut.”
“I’m a ‘foodie’ for certain,” Romans admits. “But, I do occasionally try to eat healthy.”
When Romans needs advice, council or a few words of CoSIDA wisdom, she doesn’t have to go far. Her office neighbor is Karl Park, who spent 33 years as the sports information director at Eastern Kentucky and now has oversight of the athletic department hall of fame.
“KP is amazing,” says Romans. “He’s so impressive with the things he remembers, stories he tells and obviously, he’s a Hall of Famer. He's the kind of person that helps in any way possible. He is always there to be a sounding board - and is definitely honest with his opinion - and just makes you want to be better at your job.”
For Romans, it’s just the beginning. But, without question, the hope for a bright future in the communications profession is promising.
From left to right: Steve Fohl (assoc. director of athletic comm.), David Miller (athletics digital broadcast
and video coordinator), Romans and Kevin Britton (asst. athletics director for communications and branding)