Story by Gage Johnson
Sports Editor
gjohnson17@murraystate.edu
Interim President Bob Jackson told the The Murray State News on Friday, Feb. 8, that the search for a new athletic director for the Racers was nearing its end.
The position has been vacant since Allen Ward resigned the post on July 13, 2018, but Jackson said a decision is coming soon.
“I think there will be a permanent athletic director named in the next few weeks or so,” Jackson said. “It’s been ongoing work and the search committee in that area has been working actively since about October.”
Once Ward had made his switch to AD at Abilene Christian University, the University announced that Murray State women’s golf’s Head Coach, Velvet Milkman, was announced as the interim athletic director. She has been serving in that position since Aug. 1, 2018.
However, Ward’s shoes are not small ones to fill. Ward had been at the forefront of Racer Athletics since 2005 and brought unprecedented success to the University.
While Ward was in charge of Racer Athletics, Murray State won 39 OVC Championships and played in the NCAA Championships 29 times. He introduced the Gene Ray Center for Murray State basketball, the Burton Family Hall of Champions and Racer Field. His tenure also brought improvements to Reagan Field, Cutchin Field and adding state-of-the-art HD video scoreboards in the CFSB Center and Roy Stewart Stadium.
Murray State didn’t just excel on the field—they did in the classroom as well. The Racers’ Academic Progress Rate score went from 911 to 986, on top of the 20 consecutive seasons in which the cumulative GPA of student athletes was over 3.0.
While the search didn’t start right away, the search committee has been adamant in their efforts.
While very soon may seem like a blanket statement, Jackson has made it known that the position won’t be filled by an interim athletic director much longer.
In addition to filling the athletic director position, Murray State is also searching for a permanent University president.