AD Sandy Hatfield Clubb Leaving Drake

 FROM THE DRAKE ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT:

Des Moines, Iowa (Aug. 1, 2017) – After more than  a decade at the helm of Drake University Athletics, Sandy Hatfield  Clubb will be leaving the university, effective this Friday. She has  accepted a senior partner position with the Pictor Group, an  intercollegiate athletics consulting firm, effective Aug. 7. Associate  Athletics Director Megan Franklin will serve as Drake’s interim athletic  director; a national search to fill the permanent athletic director  role will begin this fall.

 

“Sandy has served the University, our  student-athletes, and this community well. I want to thank her for such  strong leadership, passion, and dedication to the program,” said Drake  University President Marty Martin. “I think highly of Sandy and wish her  and her family all the best in the future.”

 

“I am proud to have been a Bulldog for the last  11 years and sincerely thank the many student-athletes, coaches, staff,  fans, donors, and everyone who has helped grow Drake Athletics,” said  Hatfield Clubb. “We have built a strong foundation together, and I’ll be  cheering the Bulldogs on as their success continues. The city of Des  Moines has been an extraordinary place to raise our children, and I will  be forever grateful to this community.” 

 

Notably, Hatfield Clubb was the first female  athletic director for a combined athletic department in Iowa. Prior to  joining Drake in 2006, Hatfield Clubb had risen to the role of senior  associate director of athletics at Arizona State University, a program  she had joined in 1990 as management intern. 

 

During her 11 years at Drake, Hatfield Clubb and her staff amassed many notable accomplishments, including:

  • Hiring Jennie Baranczyk, who coached  the women’s basketball team to a record-breaking season and return to  the NCAA Tournament while maintaining a 3.7 GPA and performing 1,000  hours of community service
  • Creating  numerous opportunities for student-athletes to participate in  academically oriented trips abroad, highlighted by the 2011 football  team’s participation in a transformational trip to Tanzania that  included youth clinics, community service, home-stays, a 6-day trek to  summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, and a bowl game
  • Raising  over $25 million for capital projects and operations, including  construction of the $8.3 million Shivers Basketball Practice Facility  and the renovation of every sport’s competitive athletics facility
  • Increasing corporate partnerships by over 200 percent
  • Expanding  the Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee, including corporate sponsorships  and a broadcasting agreement with USA Track and Field
  • Hosting  numerous national championship track and field events, including NCAA  Track and Field National Championships and USATF National Championships
  • Earning  the Missouri Valley Conference Academic Award three times, as the  athletic department with the highest grade point average.

 

While at Drake, Hatfield Clubb was selected by  the Missouri Valley Conference and Pioneer Football League to serve on  the NCAA Division I Council, and appointed by the NCAA Council to chair  the Strategic Vision and Planning Committee (2015–2017) and, most  recently, the Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee. Additionally,  Hatfield Clubb has been active in serving the community as a board  member for the Robert D. & Billie Ray Center, Community Foundation  of Greater Des Moines, United Way of Central Iowa, Meals from the  Heartland, and the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

 

Hatfield Clubb has been recognized locally and  nationally for her accomplishments including Under Armour Athletic  Director of the Year for the Football Championship Subdivision  (2013–2014), Woman of Influence by the Des Moines Business Record  (2010), Louis Noun Visionary Woman by Young Women’s Resource Center  (2016), Robert D. Ray Pillar of Character (2015), and the B’Nai Brith  Hall of Fame (2007) for being named the first female Division I  athletics director in Iowa.


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