The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has named Richard J. Pappas of Davenport University as chairperson of the president’s council. Pappas is president of Grand Rapids’ Davenport.
“Davenport is proud to be a member of the GLIAC,” says Pappas. “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.”
Davenport first joined the GLIAC in 2017 and received approval from the National Collegiate Athletic Association for active Division II membership two years later. Since then, Davenport’s men’s basketball team won a GLIAC regular season title in 2018-2019, and its men’s soccer team won a GLIAC Tournament title in 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.
“We appreciate Dr. Pappas’ leadership as the GLIAC navigates one of the most challenging years in our 48-year history,” says Kris Dunbar, commissioner of the GLIAC. “We value his strong leadership during this difficult time.”
The presidency of the GLIAC Management Council and chairperson of the GLIAC President’s Council is a one-year term. Presidents from each member institution make up the GLIAC council of presidents, which serves as an adviser for the Management Council of the GLIAC. The management council is comprised of three representatives from each member institution – the director of athletics, a faculty athletics representative, and a female senior administrator.
Davenport University is a private, nonprofit university that serves about 7,500 students at campuses across Michigan and online. It has 22 NCAA-sponsored sports with more than 560 student-athletes enrolled annually.
