In Review

When George VanderZwaag arrived in Rochester from Princeton in the fall of 1998, he could only tour the site of what would become the Goergen Athletic Center.

But the new athletic director was impressed by plans for the 200,000-square-foot home base for athletic and recreational activities that was formally dedicated during the University’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2000. Completely renovated and expanded, the building signaled Rochester’s commitment to providing an athletic experience that matched its academic excellence, VanderZwaag noted.

“For me, this is about trying to achieve excellence in everything you do—that’s what the great universities strive for—and that’s what the Goergen Center represents,” VanderZwaag said of the building, named in recognition of the support of University Trustee and Board Chair Emeritus Robert Goergen ’60. “The overall goal of the College is to provide a quality undergraduate education, and this is a step in reaffirming that commitment to provide a quality undergraduate experience.”

Two decades later, VanderZwaag is the executive director of athletics, where he oversees 23 varsity programs, led by athletes and teams that have earned academic as well as athletic accolades. Along the way, he’s helped the department grow into new and renovated facilities.

In October, VanderZwaag was appointed to the advisory board for the Sports Law and Business Program at Arizona State University, a national board that includes some of the most accomplished experts from the world of sports.

What pleases you the most about your time at Rochester?

I am really pleased with our overall program and facility development. We have extremely successful programs on both the varsity and recreational sides. We have been able to develop the resources to invest in our facilities, build a strong staff, and support them toward their professional goals. All of this positions us to be an attractive institution for the best students from around the world.

What expectations did you have of the coaching and athletic staff before arriving here?

That they would be committed to their roles as educators, first and foremost. That they were committed to putting in the work to develop our programs in way that reflected positively on the institution and in a way that clearly supported the educational mission.

In the first couple of years, what were the challenges?

The facilities were in need of an overhaul, varsity teams were not having much success, women’s programs were grossly underdeveloped, recreational offerings were limited, and our recruiting did not reflect well on the institution—those were our main challenges.

Those needed long-term solutions. How did you proceed?

The Goergen Athletic Center was the starting point. It was a statement that the University cared about athletics within the residential college experience. We needed to be clear about who were as a department and how our work aligned with the larger strategic goals. We also needed to invest more heavily in our people and programs. An important next step was to fill positions on a full-time basis to allow us to build programs and recruit students in a manner that reflected positively on the University. We also needed to develop resources to support our work, particularly in being more national in our recruiting focus.

During your tenure, you worked to align the department with the College. Why was that important?

The College had a well-developed strategic plan and I saw opportunities to align our goals for excellence in the educational process with the larger goals for undergraduate education. It allowed me to partner with the academic leadership to define more clearly why athletics matters in the educational process and develop a plan to achieve our goals.

By 2003–04, our teams were in the top 20 percent in measures of national standing and success. Was that anticipated?

Our competitive level has risen over the years, which is a reflection of the many changes in support and approach to athletics. I wouldn’t call it an anticipated result as much as a validation of our belief that we could support athletics at the University at a higher level, and athletics could, in turn, support the University at a higher level. I believe that quality begets quality. So, in that regard, I guess you could say that I anticipated national success because the institution is built on the ethos of national success.

In 20 years, there must also have been some very challenging situations as well. Not just in competition but in the lives of students and staff. How have those situations affected your approach to working with students and with your staff?

It’s always about the people. So, their challenges become your challenges and every situation is unique. We are privileged to work with the students at this University. They are incredibly talented and capable of great things. My approach is to support them as best we can to achieve their goals. That process is messy. We push them harder than they want to be pushed. They sometimes don’t understand their own limits or capabilities. But our job is to help them learn and develop. That’s what we do.

What’s been the effect of the enhancements to the facilities? We have touched every part of our facilities, inside and out, over the course of 20 years. It represents over $50 million in investment. This has provided us high-quality space and has positioned us to support the University by developing strong programs that are attractive to many outstanding students. Of course, this could not have been possible without leadership and support from alumni and trustees like Bob Goergen, Ed Hajim ’58, Brian Prince ’86, ’89S (MBA), Chris Boehning ’87, ’88 (MS), Steve ’92and Liz Biggar ’92, and many others.

What’s next—facilities, additional sports, people?

We’re not anticipating much expansion of facilities and programs. We have a very large program compared to our peers. We have achieved full compliance with Title IX in terms of gender proportionality. We have space limitations, which factors into opportunities for program growth. We continue to develop our existing programs and make investments in our existing facilities. Resources and people make that happen. So, it continues to be about having the strongest staff possible and supporting them as best we can toward our goal of attracting the strongest students to the University.