Brown Named Assistant Athletic Director at UMC

CROOKSTON, Minn.- University of Minnesota Crookston Director of Athletics Stephanie Helgeson
announced the hiring of Kathleen Brown as assistant athletic director/senior women’s admistrator (SWA) and director of marketing and promotions. Brown spent the last six years at Patrick Henry Community College (PHCC) in Martinsville, Va., where she was most recently the athletic director for the past year. Brown was previously the head women’s softball coach at PHCC from 2008-13 and the assistant athletic director at PHCC from 2011-13.

“We are very excited to add Kathleen Brown as assistant athletic director and senior women’s administrator,” Helgeson said. “Kathleen comes in with three years of administrative experience as an assistant athletic director and athletic director at the junior college level. I believe she will be able to bring the leadership, understanding and organizational skills necessary for this position. She is also very experienced with creating relationships with student-athletes both from her time as head softball coach and time as an administrator, which will be key in her role working with NCAA Champs/Life Skills and with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee at UMC.”

Brown’s main role at PHCC as athletic director was to provide administrative direction and oversight for all intercollegiate and recreational athletics staff, programs, facilities and activities. In addition to her role as athletic director, she was also the international student coordinator at PHCC for the past two years.

Prior to assuming her role as athletic director, she was the assistant athletic director for two years, where she assisted the athletic director in all administrative duties. In addition, she ensured the athletes’ eligibility requirements were met, provided mentoring and academic advising for student-athletes, helped to
familiarize the student-athletes with the entire student experience and helped provide public relations content and scores for the PHCC athletic website.

Brown was the softball coach for six seasons at PHCC prior to her move to administration. During her time as softball coach she helped to recruit and develop players for the Patriots, as well as to oversee the day-to-day operations of the program. She helped lead her team to the Region X Conference Tournament title in 2012 and was the Region X Softball Coach of the Year in 2011. During her time at PHCC, she coached against
current UMC softball coach Don Stopa, who was the head coach at fellow Region X school Louisburg
College.

Brown was also an adjunct professor for developmental math, student development, recreation and parks, physical education and health classes at PHCC. In addition, she was the upward bound advisor for one year.

Prior to arriving at Patrick Henry Community College, Brown spent the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach at her alma mater Peru State College in Peru, Neb.

Brown was a student-athlete at National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) affiliate Peru State College, competing for the softball team. Brown was a two-time NAIA All-American Scholar-Athlete. She was also a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) for three years while at Peru State and was on the Dean’s List for two years.

Brown, an Omaha, Neb. native, earned her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with endorsements in
Secondary Education and Coaching from Peru State College in 2007. She earned her Master of Science in Education from Peru State in 2008 and a Doctor of Education in Sports Management with an emphasis in Sports Leadership from the United States Sports Academy in 2012.