W
hen Vicky Chun first stepped foot on the Colgate University campus as a freshman in 1987, she never imagined that 26 years later she would be running the school’s athletic department.
Chun was named interim AD on Aug. 1, 2012, before taking the position permanently on Jan. 1. Not long after, the school’s board approved a $38.7 million facilities project that will help
Colgate remain competitive in the changing landscape of collegiate sports. That project calls for an ice rink, locker rooms, training and meeting space, and offices for the school’s men’s and women’s soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse programs.
Chun is one of eight minority women leading a Division I program. She received both an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree from Colgate, and she remained on campus after that as a volleyball coach (assistant, 1993-94; head coach, 1994-97). She ultimately moved into administration, a pursuit that saw her work for several years with the NCAA, but she returned to her alma mater in 2006 as an assistant athletic director.
She’s continued on from there, and in the past year she’s seen the Patriot League school win titles in football, women’s soccer and volleyball.
Said Chun, “Our expectations are to win, and we don’t see size or money or anything like that getting in our way.”
— Jillian Fay
“With her background as an athlete and as a
coach, she knows Colgate inside out and she knows athletics from all different perspectives. And she’s always looking to improve and get better. … She’s very passionate. I saw that both as a coach, with the countless hours she put in, and now the same as an administrator.”
— Mark Murphy | President and CEO | Green Bay Packers
(served as Colgate AD from 1992 to 2003)
