Announcing WCU's New Director of Athletics

To the Catamount community:

I write today to announce the appointment of Alex Gary, senior associate athletics director for development at Oregon State University, as the next director of athletics at Western Carolina University. This appointment, which is effective May 1, represents a homecoming of sorts for Alex, who was a student-athlete on the WCU baseball team in the early 2000s.

As a member of the executive leadership team for Oregon State, he has shared responsibility for the athletics department’s $85 million annual budget, 150 employees, and more than 500 student-athletes. He also served previously as associate athletics director for development and external relations at the University of Maryland, and has held positions at the University of Michigan and UNC Charlotte. For more information about Alex, please read the news release posted online.

I believe that Alex’s professional experience in the Pac-12 and Big Ten, which are major collegiate athletics conferences, and his time as a student-athlete here at WCU, make him a perfect fit for the role of director of athletics. I thank associate general counsel Ivy Gibson, who served as chair of the search committee, and the 14 other committee members for working fast and efficiently to bring forward a strong slate of candidates.

A formal campus introduction and reception is scheduled for 3 p.m. today (Friday, Feb. 28), in the Hospitality Room of the Ramsey Regional Activity Center. I hope you will join me in welcoming Alex and his fiancée, Katie Mavis, to the Western Carolina University family.