MONMOUTH'S DR. MARILYN MCNEIL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT DATE
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - Monmouth University Vice President and Director of Athletics
Dr. Marilyn McNeil has announced that she will retire from her 53-year career in collegiate athletics on June 30, 2021.
During that time McNeil has been a collegiate athlete, coached at the collegiate level, served has an administrator and has spent the last 28 years as Monmouth's Director of Athletics.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed this profession; as a student-athlete, coach and administrator, however after 53 years working in college athletics, it is time to step away," said McNeil.
"Dr. McNeil's influence on Monmouth will be felt for decades to come," said Monmouth University President Dr. Patrick Leahy. "Our athletics program grew significantly during her tenure, giving hundreds of students the opportunity to compete at the highest levels of collegiate athletics. Our teams performed extremely well on the field of play, inside the classroom, and within the community. More important than that, Dr. McNeil is a fierce advocate for our student-athletes. She has been a leader on this campus for years, as well as a leader throughout intercollegiate athletics nationally, and her influence will be sorely missed."
McNeil has elevated Monmouth to one of the premier mid-major Division I programs in America. During her tenure, the Hawks have won 119 regular season conference championships while making 38 team appearances in various NCAA Tournaments. The Hawks have claimed 11 overall commissioner's cups in the Northeast Conference and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and have finished lower than second just once (third in 1998-99) during her time in West Long Branch. On a national scale, McNeil's contributions to Title IX cannot be understated. The Hawks have added seven sports during McNeil's tenure, five of which have added collegiate opportunities for women.
"While I have held many roles in intercollegiate athletics, the undisputed highlight of my career has been leading Monmouth for the past 28 years and almost completely because of the wonderful coaches and staff beside me," said McNeil. "Monmouth has been a great environment to grow and learn and I am thankful for having so many influential mentors. Out new athletics leader will surely see these cornerstones and move the Hawks upward."
A well-respected member of the athletics administration community, McNeil has held several national prestigious positions. She has served on the Division I NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics and the Management Council as well as held the office of President for National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators (NACWAA), the same committee that named her 2001 Division I-A-AA Administrator of the Year. McNeil also served a five-year term on the Division I NCAA Women's Basketball Committee, where she was named chair during 2010-11. She also has spent time in the role of President for the FCS Athletic Directors Association.
McNeil has dedicated her life to gender equality in athletics. A champion of Title IX, she was the first female athletic director at any New Jersey college or university when she was hired in 1994. She went right to work instituting change, not only on the local level but at the national level, too. In her first year at Monmouth she brought what was the first all-female Division I voting delegation with her to the NCAA annual convention. She worked tirelessly to make sure the budgets, staffing and hiring practices were reflective of her own commitment to equality while always lending her expertise to women looking to start or further a career in college athletics. Most recently, under her leadership the University was awarded an "A" grade by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sports for the number of women head coaches at Monmouth.
One of the marquee traits of McNeil's tenure in West Long Branch has been the longevity and success of coaches and staff. Eight of the current coaches on staff have been at Monmouth under her direction for at least 10 seasons. Three other former coaches spent at least 10 seasons while current coaches
Kevin Callahan (football),
Dean Ehehalt (baseball), Krissy Turner (women's soccer) and
Patrice Murray (women's tennis) have logged more than 20 seasons at the helm of their respective Hawk teams.
In addition to creating a championship-winning culture, McNeil has seen Monmouth's facilities rise to become the standard among its conference counterparts. Highlights include the 2009 addition of the OceanFirst Bank Center, home to Monmouth's basketball and track and field programs, as well as the massive 2017 renovation of Kessler Stadium, where football, lacrosse and track and field compete. Hesse Field on The Great Lawn added lights in 2011, allowing the soccer programs to host night games, and field turf in 2014. Monmouth field hockey's So Sweet A Cat Field was dedicated in 2007 and received recent upgrades in turf (2018) and a new scoreboard (2019), while the Hawks added an Outdoor Tennis Complex in 2009 and the
Patrice Murray Tennis House five years later. In addition, Monmouth's bowling team secured a permanent on-campus home in 2014 with the addition of the Cinello Family Bowling Center adjacent to Boylan Gymnasium. All of Monmouth's teams have benefitted from the most recent facelift of the Varsity Weight Room which opened in January of last year.
McNeil's commitment to the Monmouth student-athlete experience is reflected in their success in the classroom. For the 2019-20 academic year, a Monmouth-record 21 programs earned above a 3.0 team grade-point average, and the department's overall GPA has improved each of the past four years. In addition, Monmouth's Graduation Success Rate score has reached or eclipsed the 90 percent threshold in five consecutive years.
Never one to be complacent, McNeil guided the Hawks to higher grounds every step of the way. In 2013-14 she led Monmouth out of the Northeast Conference (1997-2013) and into the Metro Atlantic Athletic conference while simultaneously bringing the football program to one of the premier FCS conferences in the Big South. Most recently Monmouth's nationally-ranked field hockey program joined the America East. The women's bowling program now competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after making the jump from the Southland Bowling Conference and the NEC prior to that.
The University will begin a search in the coming months to fill the role of Director of Athletics.