FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rivier’s Buley, JWU’s Marcoux
to chair GNAC Leadership Groups

WINTHROP, Mass. – Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Commissioner Joe Walsh is pleased to announce governance changes that will take place for the league with the new fiscal year beginning on July 1.

Rivier University President SisterPaula Marie Buley, IHM, will serve as chair of the GNAC Presidents’ Council for the 2017-18 academic year. Buley, who recently finished a two-year term on the NCAA Division III Chancellors/Presidents Advisory Group, replaces Saint Joseph’s College of Maine President James Dlugos. Dlugos was recently appointed to the same NCAA Division III Chancellors/Presidents Advisory Group at the national level.

Additionally, Johnson & Wales University Director of Athletics Jamie Marcoux will take over as chair of the GNAC Executive Committee. Mount Ida College Director of Athletics Matthew Burke will serve as the Executive Committee’s Vice Chair, while Suffolk University Director of Athletics Cary McConnell will serve as the Sport Committee Liaison and University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) Athletic Director and Associate VP of Student Affairs Bill Cardarelli will be the committee’s Parliamentarian.

Marcoux's duties will include, in conjunction with the commissioner, setting agendas and conduct Athletic Director Council meetings. She takes over for Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Athletic Director Brian Curtin as chair of the GNAC Executive Committee. 

“I would like to thank Brian Curtin for all of his work and oversight on behalf of the GNAC the past three years,” said Walsh. “He has been an integral part of the conference’s strategic vision.”

The GNAC is pleased to welcome incoming member Regis (Mass.), which officially joins the conference as its 13th full member on July 1. Colby-Sawyer College will then become a full conference member beginning in 2018-19.

The GNAC is also set to increase its sport championship offerings from 17 to 20 in 2017-18, as it will sponsor men’s swimming & diving, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field championships for the first time in the upcoming academic year.

Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and nearly 4,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement. 

– #TheGNAC –