On Monday, Dec. 6, members of the CSUB community and local media were invited to meet Jeff Konya, CSUB's new athletics director. The following is the introduction given by CSUB President, Dr. Horace Mitchell.

Good morning, and thank you for being here.

Following a national search conducted by a search committee consisting of faculty, staff, students and community members, it was my pleasure on November 24, 2010 to appoint Jeff Konya as the new Director of Athletics at CSU Bakersfield effective January 8, 2011. We announced Jeff's appointment last week. Today we are here to formally introduce Jeff to the campus community, the greater Bakersfield community and the media.

Jeff brings to his new role a wealth of excellent experiences across all major areas of athletics administration at several NCAA Division I institutions. With his Princeton undergraduate degree, a law degree from the University of Iowa, and several assignments as an adjunct faculty member, it is clear that Jeff has the education, experience and intellect we sought in a new AD.

In addition, he shares our vision for the future of CSUB athletics:

• A continuing emphasis on the "student" in "student-athlete," including achieving excellence in their academic performance, retention and graduation rates, and
• Achieving in Division I the excellence we achieved in Division II under the leadership of Rudy Carvajal over the last 38 years.

Jeff Konya is the right person to lead our athletics program well into the future. Please welcome our new Director of Athletics Jeff Konya.

For a photo gallery from the meet and greet event, please visit this link. (opens in new window)

Video link (opens in a new window)