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Past Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients
Steve Ulrich – Centennial Conference, Executive Director
2019 CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
by Ann King, The Sage Colleges Director of Athletic Communications
Steve Ulrich’s career has been centered in NCAA Division III and there are so many that have benefit from his dedication and vision.
His journey started on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College nearly forty years ago. As a student at F & M, he played four years of varsity golf for the Diplomats and was on the five-man squad that won the Middle Atlantic Conference championship in 1980. Ulrich got his start in the profession as a student SID in the F & M public relations office in the fall of 1981 and interned at Dartmouth College after graduation from F & M in 1982.
Now with the close of the 2018-2019 academic year, Ulrich will retire from his position as the Executive Director of the Centennial Conference, based on the F & M campus. Fittingly, with his extensive background in athletic communications and long-time CoSIDA membership, he also will receive a CoSIDA Lifetime Achievement Award at CoSIDA’s June convention.
Ulrich is the only person to have held the Centennial position since its inception in January 1993. He came to the Conference after serving as sports information director at Yale University from 1989-92.
Prior to Yale, he served as the assistant SID at Cornell University (1986-89) and was the sports information director at McDaniel College (1983-86). During that time, Steve also was the publicity director of the Centennial Football Conference — the forerunner to the all-sports Centennial Conference — in 1984 and 1985.
Dave Wohlhueter, retired long-time CoSIDA treasurer and CoSIDA Hall of Fame SID from Cornell, reflected on Steve. “It’s hard to determine who got the better of the bargain with Steve working in our Cornell sports information office,” noted Wohlhueter. “After all, we found him a wife, and it doesn’t get any better than that.”
The Ulrich family – daughter Caroline, Steve, wife Marcy and son Ryan.
He added, “Seriously, Steve came to Cornell with an excellent writing background. We continued to nurture that important ability. He also learned how to work well with others, and did a super job of performing this task. He fit in nicely with our team, and worked very hard to reach the next level, and then on and on, and on.”
“Steve had the perfect combination of skills as a mentor,” reflected Steve Conn, Senior Assistant Athletic Communication Director at Yale University. “He could motivate you to produce work at a higher level than you may have expected while making you feel completely comfortable and unpressured. I learned so much from him in a short time, and he made it much easier for me to take over at Yale when he left for the conference position.”
Brad Bankston, Commissioner of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference noted, “Steve was there at the beginning — really paving the way for Division III commissioners in his role moving from media relations to the conference administrative role.” He continued, “The job was different when he started — but it still is a prime example of a position that needs someone who can manage a lot of items at once and has learned to work with a variety of people. We all have to have some knowledge of all aspects of the office including media relations — he was that model — which has continued to this day.”
Nationally, Ulrich has served as a member of the NCAA Division III Men’s Golf and Men’s Basketball committees, serving as chair of the basketball group in 2013. He has been on regional advisory committees for football and women’s golf. He also is a member of the Division III Commissioners Association and served on the Executive Committee for six years, two as Chair. Ulrich received the DIIICA Meritorious Service Award in 2017 for his many significant and substantial contributions to Division III athletics. He is also a founding member of the Middle Atlantic Regional Commissioners Association, a consortium of 10 conferences in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Ohio.
"Steve Ulrich is one of the founding fathers of the Division III Commissioners Association, and is universally liked and respected, which at times can be a tough combination to pull off in this position,” remarked Joe Onderko, Commissioner of the President’s Athletic Conference.
“More than anything, he taught me as a young commissioner that kindness does not equal weakness, that you can treat people the way you want to be treated while still standing firm on issues as needed,” noted Onderko. “I cherish the friendship we have built through the years, as do so many others in this association. Steve has been so instrumental in the development of the D3CA as a whole, all of us owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his many contributions and leadership."
Ulrich also provided valuable leadership and mentoring to his staff, as two of his former assistants moved onto Division III Commissioner positions — Kim Wenger at the Northwest Conference and Jessica Huntley with the Atlantic East Conference.
“Steve has been a wonderful mentor, colleague and friend to me over the years,” remarked Huntley. “He is an industry leader and always on the cutting edge when it comes to technology, website and social media. I had the privilege of working for him for almost six years and his guidance and mentorship provided me the opportunity to become a commissioner.”
"I am where I am today because of Steve Ulrich”, said Wenger. “I wouldn't be in my commissioner role without him. His friendship and guidance over the years was so valuable. Steve believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. His love for Division III, its student-athletes, coaches, administrators and leadership is second to none."
“Seeing a familiar face like Steve's was a great thing when I became a Division III commissioner back in 2008,” said Chuck Yrirogen, Commissioner of the American Rivers Conference. “He and I went back to his days at Cornell and Yale while I was at Princeton and the Ivy League office. I knew he was having a good experience in Division III, which was a major influence on my decision to apply for the opening in Iowa. Steve and I are both die-hard Phillies fans so we shared those great days from 2007 through 2011. I think one of the best ways to judge Steve's career and impact is that two Division III commissioners — Kim Wenger (Northwest Conference) and Jessica Huntley (at the Atlantic East) — were mentored by Steve. The "Ulrich Tree" is alive and well!”
During the 1990s, Ulrich and his wife, Marcy Dubroff, created "College Lacrosse USA,” a website devoted to college lacrosse. The pair was honored in 1996 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association with the Doyle Smith Media Award.
“Steve was always there for a friendly nudge, smile and offer of assistance to those of us who entered Division III conference work after he did,” added Bankston. “He led by example, having the vision to start websites that highlighted Division III competition in a variety of sports only to see those sites take off years later in the D3sports.com platform. He was always looking for ways to gather individuals to group-think about Division III and ways in which the commissioners to contribute to our membership and Division III as a whole.”
Wohlhueter added, “Steve was assigned two of our high profile sports in addition to working with many, many others. He handled them with aplomb as we expected he would. Now that he is “retired” — former sports information lifers never retire! — he will demonstrate his talents in another area. What he really needs is more time on the golf course. We’re proud that Steve is one of our many Cornell SI alumni, and Marcy, too.”
The couple lives in Lancaster and has two children — Ryan and Caroline, both of whom have ties to F & M. Ryan, a 2018 F & M graduate, is currently in Indonesia on a Fulbright Scholarship, while Caroline recently completed her rookie season for the Diplomats on the women’s tennis team.