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Note: This story appeared in the Summer 2019 August edition of CoSIDA 360 Magazine. To view the full magazine, click here. 


The Man Behind The CoSIDA Academic All-America® Machine
A Tribute to Mark Beckenbach

by Laurie Bollig – CoSIDA Director of Membership Engagement
 

There’s no denying that the Google Cloud Academic All-America® awards program is one of the most important things CoSIDA members do as an association. Just ask former student-athletes what their most prized award was and, no doubt, you’ll hear that winning the Academic All-America honor was the most important award because it recognized them not only as great athletes but also as outstanding students.

The awards program’s longevity — more than 60 years — is also a testament to its importance within intercollegiate athletics. The NCAA and NAIA national governing bodies support the program financially and in promotions.

For almost three decades, one man has been on the front lines of the program, first as one of its many ardent volunteers and then as its leader and champion – Ohio Wesleyan University sports information director Mark Beckenbach.

From the mailing of paper ballots to the advent of an online program to the current automated nominating and voting platform, Beckenbach has left his stamp on the program. He’s done it in such a way that you barely even knew he was there. He’s quiet and unassuming. He is calm during the crises that sometimes arise during the multiple-layered program. He is thoughtful in his consideration of issues and measured in his responses to colleagues and friends who have looked to him for interpretations. 

After serving as the Academic All-America Core Committee chair since 2011, Beckenbach is rolling out of that leadership position after 2018-19’s final winners are announced. He will still be involved with the program, but the day-to-day leadership will shift to Kevin Lanke, assistant athletic director for sports information and communications at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Beckenbach received CoSIDA’s President’s Award at the 2019 CoSIDA Convention. The award is selected by the reigning CoSIDA president and honors exemplary volunteer service and leadership within the organization’s committee structure in support of programs that benefit CoSIDA members.

Because of his humble nature, those who know Beckenbach best understand interviewing him for a piece like this would be the ultimate exercise in frustration, because he’s not going to give anyone the material needed to appropriately thank him. Instead, a request was made of a few close friends who have worked closely with him over the years and appreciate what his stamp has been and will continue to be on the program.

 

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Friends Pay Tribute to Beckenbach

Kevin Lanke
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Information and Communication
Chair, Academic All-America® Core Committee

Mark Beckenbach has a huge imprint on the Academic All-America program that we have today. His passion and enthusiasm for the program, his attention to detail, and his patience to work through every aspect of two generations of the nomination system have helped the program grow to its impactful level of today.

I am proud to call Mark a friend and colleague. The first word I think of when describing Mark is loyalty. He is loyal to his friends, colleagues, institution and the Academic All-America program. You know that if you need something, Mark will drop everything to help. That’s the best attribute a friend can have.

Mark’s dedication has allowed CoSIDA and its members to have much simplified nominating and voting systems from previous years. In his time on the committee, we have moved from faxes being typed into Word files by district coordinators, to a system that allowed some automation of activities, to today’s system that makes nominating and voting much more efficient in an era where time is at a premium.  Processes that used to take hundreds of hours of committee volunteer time have been reduced dramatically. The program has greater nomination and voting participation, and therefore we have better and more accurate Google Cloud Academic All-America teams, as a result of his efforts.

Bernadette M. Cafarelli
American Athletic Conference
Associate Commissioner Communications/External Relations
Former chair, Academic All-America® Hall of Fame Committee

There are few people that have influenced the success and have had more of an impact on the Academic All-American program than Mark Beckenbach. When I think of the Academic All-America program and its influencers, four names immediately come to mind, John Humenik, Gregg Burke, Dick Lipe and Mark. These four individuals have been the cornerstone to the magnitude of the program. Mark has been a great caretaker of the program. He cares about CoSIDA, and most importantly, the student-athletes who are honored annually. No one has been more dedicated to the program than Mark.

Mark is an incredibly loyal colleague and one of my closest friends in the business. I only get to see him once a year — usually at CoSIDA/NACDA ­— and look forward to the time that we get to spend together, but I try to call him often during the school year. It was a pleasure to work side by side with him when we co-chaired the Academic All-America program. He made our time together on the committee so much fun.

His impact on the AAA program has been his dedication. The countless hours he spent implementing the inception of the on-line program more than 15 years ago. He was “boots on the ground and on the firing line” when we went from paper to the online system. The time and effort that went into working with SIDEARM Sports to get it going was monumental. I have so much appreciation and respect for all the work that he did. But I know for Mark, it was a labor of love. Also, the time both he and Dave Wrath spent on revamping the program when we split into four divisions cannot be understated. I am not sure where the program would be without the two of them and all of their efforts.

I know this story is going to embarrass him, but no one deserves the kudos more than Mark. He has been unselfish in the giving of his time in helping make the AAA program into what it is today. There are not enough thank yous for all that he has done.

Nick Joos
University of Missouri
Deputy Athletics Director, Communications
National Coordinator, Academic All-America® Core Committee

Mark Beckenbach has arguably been the heart and soul of CoSIDA’s Academic All-America Committee for over a quarter century. Behind every successful program, there is that one individual who labors behind the scenes to make it happen for the benefit of others, and Mark is that person for the Academic All-America program. His leadership and dedication in bringing the nominating and voting processes online has allowed the program to flourish. He will be greatly missed as he steps away from serving as chair, but it is my hope that he will continue to serve all of the student-athletes who are nominated for CoSIDA’s most prestigious honor in some fashion. On behalf of all CoSIDA members, thank you Mark for a job well done!

Candice Kelm
McLennan Community College
Sports Information Specialist
National Coordinator, Academic All-America® Core Committee
At my first CoSIDA Convention in 2014, I attended the Academic All-America Hall of Fame ceremony and was blown away by the extraordinary accomplishments of the honorees. This was my first experience with the AAA program, and I was honored to be part of an organization with such a prestigious awards program for current and former student-athletes. I had a strong desire to be more involved with CoSIDA and attended a Table Topics discussion of the various committees looking for new members to join. I immediately volunteered for the AAA Core Committee, not really knowing what all that would entail. That first year, I must have had hundreds of questions about the nomination approval and voting processes. Mark was always patient with me and answered every email quickly and with the exceptional professionalism. With his guidance, I have seen the AAA program continue to grow year after year. Like many others, I feel that the AAA program is one of the best parts of CoSIDA. It has truly been wonderful working with Mark as our chair for the last five years, and I know his leadership will be missed. As we all move forward on the committee, I have no doubt that the expertise and guidance he has shared with us will continue to make an impact for years to come.

Dave Wrath
Augustana College
Associate Director of Athletics/ Media & Alumni Relations
Historian and archivist, Academic All-America® Core Committee

The best way that I can think to describe my good friend Mark Beckenbach is to steal and paraphrase that old line that Bum Phillips (former head coach of the Houston Oilers) used to describe Earl Campbell. “I don’t know if Mark Beckenbach is in a class by himself, but I do know that it don’t take long to call roll.”

Bum’s grammar wasn’t the best, and he never knew Mark Beckenbach, but his words describe Mark as well as any that I could imagine. Mark was the linchpin that the CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee needed during three of the biggest changes the program went through during its incredibly successful run as the cornerstone program of the organization.

He was on the ground floor when we “switched from sail to steam” (a little Jimmy Buffett lingo for you) and went from the paper voting to the online process with SIDEARM. Typical of Mark is the fact that he just figured it out. No fanfare — no complaints — he just did his job and he did it well. He had the online system ready to go and the membership made the transition without much trouble. There were behind-the-scenes issues, but Mark rolled up his sleeves and handled them.

In the summer of 2010 we made the move from the old college and university divisions and broke into four classifications, Mark took the lead on that. When we flipped the switch in the fall of 2010, the transition was seamless. Again no fanfare from, or about, Mark and no complaining from him either. Just another hill to climb and he did it well.

The third process that he navigated was the move from SIDEARM to Impexium in the summer of 2017 and he was the perfect person to help calm people down and reassure the membership that things were going to be alright.

Mark is not flashy and he can be in a room for a long period of time without anyone noticing him. However, give him a job to do and you can rest assured that it will get done and will get done correctly.

Our friendship started when we were both district coordinators on the Academic All-America Committee and it grew with each passing year. He was a guy who always thought things through before making a decision and he would call to get a second opinion on certain projects. He probably didn’t need to waste the time because his first instincts on most situations were usually correct.

He is a guy who could be counted on. He was reliable and capable and he made all of us better. There was a core group of us who helped lead the Academic All-America Committee through some rough waters. I know for a fact that without his calming influence and dedication toward the student-athletes we were serving that the program would not be in the great shape that it is today.

We owe him a great deal of gratitude for his work and his consistency.

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