Gid Rowell Named Clayton State’s Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations
Returns to similar position he held from 2000-06
Morrow, Ga., July 12, 2012 – The person in charge of Homecoming at Clayton State University is having a homecoming of his own. Gid Rowell, Alumni Director at Clayton State University, came to Clayton State as Sports Information Director in 2000. He will return to the Clayton State Department of Athletics in August, this time as Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations.
“I am so excited about the opportunity to work in Athletics again; but, at the same time, it is bitter-sweet, because I have built many strong relationships with our Alumni and have enjoyed working so much with the External Relations team and the Alumni Board of Directors,” said Rowell. “However, my passion is for Clayton State Athletics, and this position will allow me to use the experience I have gained as Alumni Director along with my communications background and love for sports.”
As the University’s first Alumni Director, Rowell laid the groundwork for the University’s first Office of Alumni Relations at Clayton State in 2006. Along with implementing a communications plan for the office, he also focused on fundraising, friend-raising and planning alumni events. Out of his one person office, he organized the Annual Alumni Dinner, oversaw Homecoming, arranged fundraising opportunities such as the University’s Call-A-Thon, and developed relationships with alumni through Monday Mixers and many other social activities.
He plans to take the lessons learned in advancement into his Athletics position by strengthening the Department’s community relations efforts and building relationships with current student-athletes and alumni. He will work closely with the Division of External Relations to build positive relationships for Athletics; and, in a role reminiscent of his days as Sports Information Director, Rowell will serve as the chief communications contact for Athletics.
“We are very excited to have Gid join us and strengthen the Department of Athletics,” says Athletic Director Carl McAloose. “I am very impressed with Gid’s reputation as a tireless worker, a person with an outstanding skill set, and as an overall great person! I believe he will be an outstanding fit for our department.”
True to his hard working nature – a nature that earned him the highest staff honor, the Alice Smith Staff Award, in 2010 – Rowell already has big plans for Athletics.
“We need to tell the stories not only of our student-athletes who scored the winning point, received the most honors, and the like; but we also need to tell stories of athletes who have excelled off the playing field and overcome challenges in reaching their dream of obtaining a college degree,” says Rowell. “We have so many great stories to tell and dreams that have truly become real. I look forward to sharing our student-athlete success stories and bringing back our alumni as mentors – those are the kinds of things I want to do in this job.”
Rowell holds a B.A. in Communications and an M.A.in Public Administration from the University of West Georgia. He is one semester away from finishing his coursework for an Ed.D. in Higher Education from the University of Alabama.
A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
