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Judy Willson – Geneva College, Director of Graduate and Online Admissions // CSC Past President (2015-16) and former college athletics communications director

CSC Hall of Fame Class of 2023

by Blake Timm – Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Assistant Commissioner For Communications

It takes quite a while for Judy Willson to scroll through the contacts on her phone.
 
The list is a who’s who of the profession, from all-time greats to some of the newest members of College Sports Communicators’ membership rolls.
 
Willson estimates that of the 700 contacts she carries with her on a daily basis, at least 500 are related to college athletics.
 
“There are people there I met early in my career. There are reporters and friends,” Willson noted. “I may never see some of these people again but if I see their name and something pops up and they still have that same number, I might give them a quick call or a text.”
 
 
It is the people and the relationships that Willson has cherished most in her three-decade career. It is her cultivation of those relationships, her mentorship and her leadership that are leading Willson to induction into the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame.
 
Mentorship and relationship have been cornerstones to Willson’s career, which has taken her from Division II to Division I, from on-campus jobs to conference offices and back again. They remain important because of the people who mentored her early in her career.
 
“Larry Cain, Ron Wahl and Shawn Ahearn were the first three who took me under their wing,” Willson said. “Larry was a mentor to several of us who came through the Northwest Missouri State program. Ron was at Point Park when I was a junior and senior doing sports information work at Geneva. He answered all of my questions.
 
“Shawn Ahearn, who was at Pittsburg State at the time, went on paternity leave when I was working for him. Shawn basically let Matt Newbery and I run the office that semester.”
 
It was those Division II roots that started Willson on her distinguished career. After stops at Northwest Missouri State and Pittsburg State, Willson became one of the first-ever Division II conference information directors for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) before starting the communications office at Eastern New Mexico University.
 
From there, Willson spent the remainder of her career at the Division I ranks with stops at the Denver, the Sun Belt Conference, ULM, New Mexico, the Mountain West Conference and finally Louisiana State University (LSU). Willson left the full-time ranks in 2022 to take a position in admissions at her alma mater, Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
 
Thanks to her father’s job, moving around was part of the Willson way growing up. That work lifestyle continued in her adult life because she grew up with it.
 
“I moved to my fourth state when I was 15 years old,” Willson said. “It wasn’t until I was a freshman in college and my friends talked about growing up in the same house from birth that it occurred to me that what we did was not normal.”
 
The moves allowed Willson to build even more relationships inside and outside the profession.
 
“My favorite thing from all of the moves has been all of the people that I have gotten to meet and the people who have come alongside me for that season of life.”
 
It is dedication to people that led Willson to a long tradition of service in the profession. She spent five years as an at-large representative on the CSC Board of Directors and eventually entered the officer’s rotation. In 2015-16, Willson became just the fourth female to serve as the organization’s president.
 
People have always been at the heart of Willson’s service. She received the Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award in 2006 for her work assisting CSC members who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. In 2020, she received the organization’s Arch Ward Award for a career of exceptional service to the profession and its people.
 
“Judy is almost the perfect example to demonstrate the scope and outreach of our profession,” said Shelly Poe, a 2006 CSC Hall of Fame inductee and the 2013-14 CSC president. “She has made a noticeable difference on campus, in conference offices, in schools large and small in every region of the country.
 
“I can’t think of anyone among our membership who has more friends or who makes more friends than Judy. It’s so fitting that her first honor was the Bob Kenworthy Award for being a good person because that is her core quality.”
 
Former CSC executive director Doug Vance echoes the sentiment. “When I think of members through the years who have provided unselfish dedication and commitment to our organization, Judy Willson is one of the first names that comes to mind,” Vance said. “Her years of service to provide leadership in helping to make our profession stronger and more relevant rank among the best of our history.”
 
Cindy Potter, who served as CSC president in 2021-22, credits Willson for helping guide her along the way during her presidential year.
“Judy is someone who took me under her wing,” Potter said. “She has always been willing to assist and advocate for others and at the same time work hard to achieve her own goals. She is always lifting others up while rising to the top of our industry like a true leader.”
 
While Willson has moved away from full-time athletic communications work, she continues to assist in sports information duties at Geneva while recruiting the next generation of graduate and adult students to the school.
 
Willson is still a mentor to many, especially young women who want to break into both the athletic communications profession and college athletics as a whole. Her core advice: be bold, find your buddy system with like-minded people and bring a better idea to help advance yourself and the profession.
 
It is what Judy Willson has done her entire career.
 
“If you see something that you have interest in, step out there and talk to somebody. It takes more than one person to move something and make significant change. Find your crew, talk through what is next and come up with solutions. Be the solution makers.”