A Fein choice for CSI's AD
School's current sports
information director and acting athletic director should get the job
Staten Island Advance - Saturday, June 03, 2006
Whenever the College of Staten Island begins its
official search for an athletic director to succeed Harold Merritt,
the quest should be a short one, both in time and distance.
Naming a replacement for Merritt, who left for the
athletic director's job at the University of the District of
Columbia, should take as long as a walk from Merritt's former office
to the one next door.
That's where Jason Fein sits.
That's not just yours truly's opinion.
Recently, the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA) initiated the Rising Star Award for members with
10 years of service or less for their "service, dedication, energy
and enthusiasm."
Out of all the NCAA Division III possibilities in
the country, Fein was chosen.
That comes as no surprise to the student-athletes
and coaches at CSI, or to anyone who is familiar with the athletic
program.
First, Fein has been doing the AD's grunt work
almost since he arrived in 1999, a month after Merritt became AD.
One of Merritt's administrative strengths was he didn't micromanage.
He gave his people their jobs and let them do them.
Second, since Merritt left, Fein has been the acting
interim AD without hitting any noticeable speed bumps. In effect,
the school has already had a seamless transition.
Third, there's his track record of jumping in
wherever there's a need: He's been assistant women's basketball
coach and also served as assistant and head women's volleyball
coach.
But there's more to recommend the Dumont, N.J.,
resident.
He certainly has contacts after working the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta, the 1998 Goodwill Games, and the 2002
Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
And, his work at Brooklyn College shows he's ideal
for a school which really needs to add some sports. Men's and
women's track, for example.
Jason was assistant athletic director/SID at
Brooklyn College in the late 1990s after that school went from one
extreme to the other -- from a disastrous excursion into Division I
to no sports at all. He was instrumental in bringing back Brooklyn
College's Division III athletic program.
From here, there's only one reason the
administration might decide to even look elsewhere: Fein is not a
"yes" man.
He's demonstrated that a number of times when, to
the chagrin of some administrators, he's gone to bat for student
athletes when he considered them victims of arbitrary policies.
From here, the CSI administration has two choices.
It can select a pretty face, a PhD who doesn't know the school, the
CUNY Conference, or the community, and, in effect, tell the rest of
its staff that hard work and dedication doesn't count.
Or, it can put the student-athletes first, and make
that short walk.
By Jack Minogue
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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