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  WoSIDA Women to Watch
Teri LaJeunesse, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications / SWA
East Central University

by Danielle Potts – 2020-21 CoSIDA Intern  

You obtained two bachelor’s degrees in business administration with a concentration in marketing and management and another degree in scientific and technical communication. What led you to work in athletic communications after such a diverse and varied educational background?
TL: I actually went to college not knowing what I wanted to do for my career, but I was determined to go back home to Michigan Tech after growing up in the area and where most of my extended family lived. I entered as a business administration student and got a job in the athletic communications office because my dad, Tom LaJeunesse, had been a student worker in the office a few years earlier as a non-traditional student. My dad thought it would be a good job for me since I liked sports — which definitely ran in the family. My grandfather, Omer LaJeunesse, is in the Michigan Tech Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a football, softball, track & field and swimming coach at Michigan Tech and coached three of his five sons before retiring. My dad went into the media side and eventually became the sports editor at the local newspaper, while my youngest brother was a goalie for the University of Michigan hockey team.

Once I obtained the job, I realized quickly that I wanted to follow that path for my career.  I knew a communications degree would be important and since Michigan Tech is an engineering school, the only option I had was scientific and technical communication. But, it worked with my job as I was able to do one final project for a class by making a step-by-step guide on how to use Stat Crew for ice hockey, which had just been released!

While at Michigan Tech, you worked as a student assistant under David Fischer, now the Director of Media and Public Relations for USA Hockey. What was it like working for Fischer? What did he teach you? What are some lessons he taught you? 
TL: Working for Dave Fischer was always fun and strict. Dave has a large sense of humor and likes to play little jokes whenever possible. Yet when the games started or you were working on a project, it was all business. His style made me enjoy working in athletics and formed my future.

I was able to not only get normal SID training, but got a lot of extra perks as well. I worked at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit every year. The hockey tournament is one of the biggest events for MTU athletics each year. The tournament is around Christmas and a few years I missed Christmas with my family to work at the tournament, but Dave always made sure that we were always included in what the student-athletes were doing. We got the same gifts they received, got to tour the Red Wings facilities and went with the team to dinner, comedy events and Red Wings games.

Dave taught me the basics of being an SID and pushed me to do better. I am not a big public speaker, but Dave still sent me with the women’s basketball team to a few tournaments to do the radio broadcasts. I was terrified to do it, but Dave said just go and do your best. 
 

What is your most memorable moment in your career to date as an SID?
TL: My most memorable moment so far in my career was in 2009 when I was at Murray State University. I was excited to surprise women’s basketball student-athlete Amber Guffy with one of the biggest honors ever received by a MSU student-athlete. We surprised her with a half-time presentation at a men’s basketball game with the 2009 CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year honor for the university division of women’s basketball. For me, the most important line item on my resume are the academic honors I can help student-athletes receive during their careers.

Since I got to East Central, student-athletes have been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® teams 10 times, from five different teams. Three of those student-athletes have earned the honor twice during their careers. Before I started 10 years ago, the school had received just one Academic All-America® honoree.

How has taking on the role of SWA (Senior Woman Administrator) changed your career? What has the experience been like?
TL: The biggest change that I have seen since starting as the SWA is in roles on several committees across the university. I was added to the Athletic Committee, the GAC Admin Council and a few committees for the university as a whole.

I enjoy the added responsibilities and to have the ability to push through some important decisions for the department. The biggest was the renewed ECU Athletic Hall of Fame that is re-starting the program after five years without a class. The department needed to update their policies and procedures and I had a large role in creating those and am in charge of the nomination process. We released the restart in October 2020 and our first round of nominations are due by the end of January. We have received several nominations so far and I know that our new process will allow us to induct a more diverse group of student-athletes, coaches, teams and supporters.
 

As someone who has great expertise in brand promotion and growth, what are some best practices in promoting programs through digital media? What is your approach to creating a social media presence?
TL: The one thing that I always look for in social media, releases and on our website is consistency. Each year I create a few different options for graphics and then have others in the office look over them and choose which one they like the most. Once determined, all website graphics and social media graphics will have the same brand for the season. When scrolling through social media you will always be able to pick out our posts, even if you miss the account name.

For social media, I am always learning as I go, but I try to approach our main ECU Tigers account as an informative account and the individual team accounts are so fans can get a more interactive (behind the scenes) look at the team. Each program has its own identity and I have the coaches run their own accounts so they can show their fans and recruits what it means to be part of the program. 

East Central University is located in Ada, Oklahoma which is the headquarters of the Chickasaw Nation. Does ECU have a large population of Chickasaw natives? Are there any student athletes that are Chickasaw natives?
TL: We have several college student-athletes who are members of the Chickasaw Nation.

The Chickasaw Nation has been a wonderful partner to the university for more than 100 years. In fact, Chickasaw Citizen Daniel Hayes donated the land to ECU when we began in 1909.  ECU continues to honor and recognize this strong relationship and ECU athletics is no exception. Every year we have Chickasaw Nation Appreciation during the football season to honor the connection as well. All members of the tribe and their employees get in free to the games and we have special presentations during the games that are decided by the tribe to promote their culture.

Most recently we name two athletic facilities in their honor. Our football plaza is known as Chickasaw Plaza and the stadium is Koi Ishto Stadium, which is big cat in Chickasaw.

Outside of work related topics, what are you passionate about? What are some of your hobbies and interests?
When I am not at work, I normally just relax. Every summer I go on vacation and so back to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to be with family. I then spend most of the day in a floaty on the lake reading. The rest of the time is spent with family around the fire, out with friends, shopping or just hanging out telling stories and laughing.