Arkeilpane named director of athletics

By LOIS BAKER
News Services Editor

Robert Arkeilpane was introduced to the Western New York community as the new UB director of athletics during a press conference on Monday in Alumni Arena hosted by President William R. Greiner.

Arkeilpane was appointed to the top position in the Division of Athletics after a national search. He had served as interim director for the past 10 months, succeeding Nelson E. Townsend, who accepted the position of associate vice president for student affairs and special assistant to the president last year.

"You can't possibly understand how excited I am that my journey has led me here today," Arkeilpane told an enthusiastic crowd of alumni, staff and community supporters.

That journey began on the Little League baseball and midget football fields of Amherst, continued at Sweet Home High School and then Syracuse University, where Arkeilpane earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication and was a four-year letterman on the varsity football team. He also holds a master's degree in sports administration from Ohio University.

Before coming to UB in 1995 as assistant athletic director for development and director of the Blue and White Club, he was assistant athletic director for development at Miami University of Ohio and at California State University at Fullerton. He also held development positions with the University of Cincinnati Foundation and the UB Foundation during the 1980s.

As director of athletics, Arkeilpane will have overall responsibility for all intercollegiate athletic, recreational and intramural athletic programs. Working with the Intercollegiate Athletics Board, he will develop and evaluate programs and policies, develop strategic plans for establishing the UB athletics program in the Mid-American Conference, and recruit, supervise, and evaluate coaches and other staff.

In announcing Arkeilpane's appointment, Greiner said he was very pleased by the outcome of the nationwide search. "We had a very effective search, which produced excellent candidates from around the country," he noted. "Bob Arkeilpane has a national reputation for excellence, is extremely knowledgeable and has an excellent record of achievement here at UB and in his prior work. He is very well-regarded by his peers around the country.

"Bob's candidacy was strongly supported by the leadership of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), and he has overwhelming local support, both at UB and in the Western New York community," Greiner said. "He's the right person for the position as we complete the job of developing our Division I-A athletics program."

Arkeilpane, in turn, said that he has never encountered a leader who understands and values the role intercollegiate athletics plays in the educational mission of an institution and the delicate balance between the two as has Greiner, and credited him with shepherding UB to its Division I-A status. He also praised Townsend's efforts in accomplishing "Mission I-A."

At this juncture, UB reminds him of Syracuse in the late 1970s when the university had a great academic reputation but was struggling to regain its athletic prominence, Arkeilpane said. Noting that 45 percent of UB athletes achieved a grade-point average of 3.0 or better during the Fall 1998 semester, he pledged to aim for an equally high performance in the athletic arena. "From game promotions and ticket sales, to the hospitality we extend to those attending our events, we will be recognized as first class," he said. "While we readily admit that we haven't yet figured out all the formulas, I can guarantee you we won't stop trying, or listening to the constructive feedback we receive from our constituents."

He emphasized that merely getting to Division I-A isn't the goal. "Instead, we will hold ourselves accountable and compete like champions in the classroom, the community, during recruiting battles and on the fields of competition," Arkeilpane said. "I ask you not to judge us by our words, not to judge us by the outcome of a single contest, not even to judge us by the outcome of a single season. But do judge us by our attitudes and actions."