UNCW Athletic Director Resigns

October 4, 2010 /
From wmbfnews.com

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – With an unsteady voice, Kelly Mehrtens announced Monday morning that she is resigning as Athletic Director of UNC Wilmington.

“This is my choice.  This is my decision,” Mehrtens said.

Mehrtens paused several times in her statement Monday, most significantly before thanking her staff and coaches.

“Though I’m not certain what comes next, I am certain I have fulfilled my assignment at UNCW,” Mehrtens said.

“Unfortunately, all too frequently it seems that too much attention is focused on other things other than the accomplishments and achievements of our student-athletes,” Mehrtens said.

Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo reiterated that the decision to resign was Mehrtens’ alone.

Recently, Mehrtens’ department disciplined an assistant women’s basketball coach for an extreme punishment of a player, making her roll baseline to baseline for a half hour.  The player vomited.  Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said that incident had nothing to do with Mehrtens’ decision.

“Only the coincidence of time,” Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said of the connection between the two incidents.

DePaolo said the investigation into last week’s punishment incident continues.

Mehrtens was also criticized for a delayed hiring of a men’s basketball coach, a stretch that at one time was the longest in the country.

Mehrtens said she has not been afraid to make tough decisions and that includes resigning her position.  Mehrtens has been AD since 2007, after serving as Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women’s Administrator at the University of Kansas.

“It has been a great ride and I have been truly blessed,” Mehrtens said.

Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo said that she understands this was a hard decision for Mehrtens.  DePaolo said Mehrtens achievements included hiring great coaches and achieving high graduation rates of student-athletes.

“Every action she has ever taken has been with our student-athletes foremost in her mind,” Rosemary DePaolo said. 

DePaolo says Mehrtens took the program to heart and wanted the best for it.  With the focus on her, rather than the student-athletes, Mehrtens made the move.

“I think it speaks a lot about her character that she made that decision and I mean that in the most positive way,” DePaolo said.

DePaolo said the public needs to support the athletic program for the future. 

“It’s about that special sense of community that happens when our coaches and student-athletes hear the crowds cheering for them,” DePaolo said.  DePaolo said financial support needs to be there as well.

DePaolo has not named an interim AD but plans to have one in place by mid-October for the beginning of basketball season.


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