Dr. Richard J. Pappas was named the chairperson of the President’s Council for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Presidents from each member institution make up the GLIAC Council of Presidents, which serves as an adviser to the GLIAC’s Management Council.
“We appreciate Dr. Pappas’ leadership as the GLIAC navigates one of the most challenging years in our 48-year history,” said Kris Dunbar, commissioner of the GLIAC. “We value his strong leadership during this difficult time.”
“Davenport is proud to be a member of the GLIAC, and I appreciate the camaraderie and collaboration between the partner universities as we continue to support our student-athletes and prioritize their health and safety as they pursue both their academic and athletic goals,” said Richard J. Pappas, Ed.D., president of Davenport University.
Davenport joined the GLIAC in 2017. Two years later, the university received approval from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for active Division II (DII) membership.
Since joining the GLIAC, Davenport’s men’s basketball team won a GLIAC regular season title (2018-19), and its men’s soccer team won a GLIAC Tournament title (2017). In the last two seasons, seven of Davenport’s student-athletes received All-GLIAC top honors and 467 student-athletes received all-academic honors.
Davenport University has 22 NCAA-sponsored sports with more than 560 student-athletes enrolled annually.
The policy-making body of the GLIAC is the Management Council, which is comprised of three representatives from each member institution (director of athletics, faculty athletics representative and senior woman administrator). Presidents from each member institution make up the GLIAC Council of Presidents, which serves as an advisory role to the Management Council and oversees the GLIAC commissioner. The presidency of the GLIAC Management Council and chairperson of the GLIAC Presidents Council is a one-year term.