In alignment with the educational mission of the College of Charleston, the Department of Athletics aims to inspire and empower its student-athletes and staff to realize their intellectual, athletic and personal potential.

“Embracing a culture of respect, integrity and inclusion, we serve as ambassadors for the College and a source of pride for our alumni and the Charleston community,” says athletics director Matt Roberts. “Through student-athlete focused programming, we compete for championships and graduate leaders.”

The Department of Athletics fulfills its mission by focusing on four pillars of success: academic excellence, competitive success, community engagement and program integrity. Here are highlights from each of these pillars from 2021–22 and early success to start the 2022–23 academic year:

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE 

  • All student-athletes earned an average GPA of 3.261 for the spring 2022 semester.
    • For the spring 2022 semester, 60% of student-athletes had a GPA of 3.2 or higher and 44 student-athletes earned a 4.0 GPA.
    • For seven consecutive semesters, student-athletes have had an average GPA above 3.1; for five consecutive semesters, they have had an average GPA above 3.2.

COMPETITIVE SUCCESS 

  • Women’s golf won the 2022 CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Championship.
    • Jamie Futrell was named CAA Coach of the Year.
    • Viktoria Hund was named CAA Player of the Year.
    • Emma Schimpf was named CAA Rookie of the Year.
  • Men’s golf won the 2022 CAA Championship and earned the program’s second all-time appearance at the NCAA Championship, finishing 30th.
    • Mitch Krywulycz was named CAA Coach of the Year.
    • Kieron van Wyk was named CAA Player of the year and made history by becoming the first Black golfer in CAA history to win the individual medalist. Van Wyk was also named the inaugural Black College Golfer of the Year.
    • Nevill Ruiter was named CAA Rookie of the Year.
  • Baseball won the CAA regular season championship.
    • Chad Holbrook was named CAA Coach of the Year.
    • William Privette was named CAA Player of the Year and became the second consensus All-American in school history.
    • Tyler Sorrentino was named CAA Rookie of the Year.
  • Equestrian finished fifth nationally after winning the Region Championship. They were led by senior Kate Coffey, a Presidential Award winner for the Class of 2022.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 

  • A record $4.9 million in private donations was raised in fiscal year 2022.
  • Capital campaigns were launched to improve the facilities for the baseball stadium and tennis center at Patriots Point.
    • A $1.5 million cash gift was made by Robb and Lydia Turner to name the tennis center the Turner Tennis Center.
    • To date, the baseball project has generated $3.9 million in donations, highlighted by the largest gift in CofC athletics history, a $2.1 million gift by Founders Federal Credit Union to name the new team building the Founders Baseball Performance Center.
  • Ticket revenues set an all-time record, highlighted by the College of Charleston leading the CAA in men’s basketball attendance for the fourth straight season.

PROGRAM INTEGRITY 

  • President Andrew T. Hsu appointed Colleen Glenn as the faculty athletics representative. Glenn began serving her four-year term on July 1, 2022. The associate professor joined the Department of English in 2013 and teaches undergraduate courses in film studies and first-year writing. She is also the director of the Film Studies Program. Her research interests are primarily in U.S. film history, star studies and gender studies. With Rebecca Bell-Metereau, Glenn published a collection of essays on movie stars entitled Star Bodies and the Erotics of Suffering (2015). She has also published on Woody Allen and Mickey Rourke, and is currently working on a monograph on Jimmy Stewart. Prior to arriving at the College of Charleston, Glenn taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky.