On Monday morning, friends and supporters of Valparaiso University gathered for an introductory press conference and welcome reception to greet Laurel Hosmer as the University’s 17th Director of Athletics.
This story is only one sentence old, and we’ve already used two words that are perhaps not precise descriptors for what took place on Monday morning at the Athletics-Recreation Center – “welcome” and “introductory.” Yes, the day was an introduction and a welcome of sorts. After all, this marked the official beginning of Hosmer’s tenure leading a department rich with history and tradition that competes within the prestigious Missouri Valley Conference. So in the sense that Hosmer was being introduced to the wide audience that comes with holding the top spot in an NCAA Division-I athletic department and being welcomed to her new role, Monday was a “welcome” and an “introduction.”
However, when a new member is welcomed and introduced to the Valpo Family, a series of questions runs through the minds of those who are part of that family – supporters, friends, fans, student-athletes, campus partners and staff alike. Who is this person? What will this person be like to work with? How will this person fit at Valpo? None of those questions were running through the minds of anyone in attendance on Monday morning.
Monday wasn’t about saying hello to a stranger; Monday was about saying congratulations to a friend.
Hosmer arrived on Valpo’s campus as Deputy Athletic Director for Revenue Generation in January. She was promoted to Interim Director of Athletics in March. In nearly eight months on Valpo’s campus, Hosmer earned the respect and support of donors and fans, coaches and staff, student-athletes and board members, University administrators and campus partners. She ingrained herself in the Valpo community in a way that makes it seem like she’s been around far longer than eight months.
“I had in my mind that I was going to have to do a search in the fall,” Valparaiso University President José D. Padilla, J.D. said during the press conference. “Over the course of the summer, after a President’s Cabinet meeting, I started thinking, ‘Why am I going to do that?’ It’s as if Laurel has been here forever. She is assertive; she already has plans for the future. We are in good hands with Laurel. When I called her into my office and asked her what she thought about being Interim AD, in two minutes, she asked, ‘What do I have to do?’ That’s the kind of a person who is running this department, and that’s the kind of person I want running this department going forward.”
Hosmer was presented with a framed No. 24 Valpo soccer jersey, with the number commemorating her first year as Valpo Director of Athletics and the sport selection recognizing how she got her start in intercollegiate athletics, as a soccer student-athlete at the State University of New York Institute of Technology.
“I am committed to the student-athlete experience, and I’m committed to it because I was a student-athlete,” Hosmer said. “That experience as a student-athlete saved my life and changed my life. It gave me identity and confidence. It taught me all those things we talk about when we talk about what the student-athlete experience does for you – leadership, teamwork, the pursuit of excellence and resilience in the face of adversity.”
On Monday, we ushered in a new chapter of Valpo Athletics. But at the same time, this chapter was already underway as Hosmer had laid the groundwork for her tenure as Director of Athletics during her time as Interim AD. While we prepare to watch Hosmer carry out her vision for Valpo Athletics, we are saying – collectively and quite simply – congrats, Friend.
Click here to view the full ESPN+ archive of the introductory press conference.