St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) announced the appointment of Megan Valentine as its new director of athletics and recreation in October 2023. Valentine, who brings 17 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, oversees the daily functioning of the athletic department, managing its 10 NCAA Division III teams that compete in the Skyline Conference, head coaches, and staff members.
Valentine joined St. Joseph's from SUNY Polytechnic Institute, where she was the first woman to hold the title of director of intercollegiate athletics. In her two-year stint, 2021-23, the Wildcats won North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championships in men's soccer and women's basketball to secure places in their respective NCAA Division III tournaments. The Wildcats also hosted the NAC softball championship in 2023.
In addition to success in athletic competition, Valentine led the effort to grow the SUNY Poly student-athlete population by 10 percent while assuring student-athlete grade-point averages remained above 3.0. She contributed to the planning and development of a $25M renovation of the Campus Center Gym, home of SUNY Poly's basketball and volleyball programs. The project will see an overhaul of the locker rooms, athletic training and strength and conditioning rooms, department offices, and a conference/VIP room.
Valentine also served as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Hilbert College, where she was integral to their increased student-athlete enrollment, reintroduced the men's volleyball program, and played a key role in fundraising efforts as part of the rejuvenated Hawks Athletic Booster Club. Additionally, Valentine oversaw the construction of on-campus facilities for baseball, softball, and track and field.
Prior to Hilbert, Valentine had an eight-year administrative tenure at SUNY Fredonia, where she held various positions, including a promotion to associate director of athletics in 2016 and serving as the senior woman administrator for all eight years. During her time at Fredonia, Valentine achieved significant milestones, including managing a $2.5 million renovation of the Blue Devils Fitness Center in February 2013, creating an ESPY award format for their annual Student-Athlete Award Gala, and stepping in to coach the Blue Devil softball team on an interim basis in 2013.
Valentine introduced a pioneering seminar – Engaging & Empowering Female Leaders in Intercollegiate Athletics – as the SUNY Athletic Conference's SWA. Valentine was also selected for the NCAA Pathways Program, preparing administrators for future roles in college athletics. She also played a vital role in the NCAA Division III Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Committee from 2011-2014, chairing the committee in 2014, and represented NCAA Division III in the Women in the Spotlight Brand Leadership Institute in January 2017, demonstrating her commitment to advancing women's leadership in athletics. Valentine also served on the NCAA Division III Membership Committee from 2019-2023.
Valentine's extensive background also includes work with the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (now Women Leaders in College Sports), as well as roles at Wellesley College and MacMurray College.
While obtaining a Bachelor of Science in sports management from Medaille College in 2004, Valentine was a three-sport athlete; competing in soccer, basketball, and softball. Notably, in her first year, she achieved National Small College Athletic Association First Team All-America status in softball and was honored as the Upstate Athletic Alliance Player and Goalkeeper of the Year in soccer. Valentine's exceptional performance led to her being named the College's Female Athlete of the Year, a first for a first-year in the program's history. She was selected as one of the NCAA's 16 national recipients for their Women's Postgraduate Scholarship upon graduation from Medaille. The prestigious scholarship supported her in obtaining a Master of Education degree in Sport Administration from Bowling Green State University. She received guidance from Dr. Nancy Spencer, who served as a line judge for the historic Battle of the Sexes tennis match, for her master's thesis titled "Through Her Eyes: Exploring the High School Sports Experiences of Female Athletes."
Additionally, Valentine contributed as a research assistant for an article in the book "Sportswomen at the Olympics: A Global Content Analysis of Newspaper Coverage." In 2015, she authored a guest article titled "Delphi Study in Practice: Using Information to Reach Consensus," featured in the book "Sport Industry Research & Analysis: An Approach to Informed Decision Making." This article was subsequently included in the book's 2nd edition published in 2021.
With her appointment, Valentine became the third female athletic director in St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) history following Margaret Ward, the institution's first athletic director and women's basketball coach from 1951 to 1984, and Margaret Alaimo, who recently held the position from 2019 to July 2023.
