Appointed • Victor
Cegles met with members of the basketball
team and staff April 7 as part of a meet
and greet reception to introduce him
to members of the Cal State Long Beach
Community. President F. King Alexander
chose him to be the new athletic director
Wednesday. Jamie Rowe / Online Forty-Niner
Cegles
selected as new CSULB AD
By Mellani Lubuag
and Jamie Rowe
Online Forty-Niner
Victor Cegles will be the new athletic director at Cal State Long Beach, President
F. King Alexander announced Wednesday.
Cegles met with community members, students and alumni April 7 at The Pointe
in The Walter Pyramid.
“…When [Cegles] visited here, he very quickly impressed the coaches,
athletes and other members of our campus community who met with him,” Alexander
said. “After numerous discussions with some of the most respected people
in intercollegiate athletics today, there seems to be widespread consensus in
his ability, integrity and knowledge of university athletics. Additionally, I
really think people will really like working with him.”
Cegles, who is currently the senior associate athletic director at Temple University
and worked as athletic director at Arizona State University from 1986 to 2002.
“It’s a great school. I think you have some outstanding leadership
and good coaches and at my age it’s a great challenge, and so I would just
love to have that opportunity,” Cegles said at the April 7 meet and greet.
“One thing we need is someone who is adept in fund raising,” said
Diane Delaterre, a class of 1970 alumna. “And [Cegles] seems to have some
good ideas.”
Cegles’ ideas include having professionals and an organized staff raise
funds so donors aren’t called ad naseum and leadership levels can be determined.
“The coaches are out there raising dollars for their individual programs
and that doesn’t make sense,” he said. “If you’re someone
who supports men’s or women’s basketball or baseball you’re
getting four different people calling you, and that makes no sense.”
The donation should be asked for in a single solicitation, where donors are free
to divide their support to the different sports, this way, donors are less agitated
and more organized, Cegles said.
“The most important part is that we need to be able to identify major gift
prospects and leadership gift prospects,” Cegles said.
Through a cultivation process of getting donors engaged with the programs, teams
and student athletes, donors who can help more can be determined and turned to
for support, he added.
Cegles also said football will not be brought back during his tenure as AD.
“Football is very, very hard because of the money pressures,” he
said.
Cegles was chosen from a pool of three candidates, who visited CSULB April 5,
6 and 7. The other candidates included William Lee Moon Sr. from the University
of Alabama, Birmingham and Kenneth E. Winstead from the University of Washington.
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