Averett Announces New Athletic Director

April 26, 2004 - Charles Harris, a native Virginian with more than 25 years experience as a college and university athletic administrator, was named director of athletics at Averett University Monday by President Dr. Richard Pfau.  Harris replaces Vesa Hiltunen who retired after 28 years of service to the University.

“Charles Harris emerged early in our search as an outstanding leader who has accomplished much in his career,” Pfau said.  “He has built strong and successful academic and athletic combinations at University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League and   Arizona State in the Pac-10.  His is a compelling presence, and I look forward to the contributions he will make to the entire University as a member of our leadership team.”

Harris has served as director of athletics at the University of Pennsylvania and Arizona State University, and as the commissioner of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.  He has also chaired the NCAA Division I Management Council, the most senior position not held by a college or university president in the NCAA hierarchy, and has served on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee.  Presently, he is a partner with Excel Development Systems, Inc., a private management and consulting firm based out of Greensboro, NC that provides strategic advising and crisis management in the sports field.

"I have known Charles Harris for six years and worked with him on the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee,” said Lee Fowler, director of athletics at North Carolina State University.  “He is known for his integrity and is highly regarded by his peers.  He has excellent leadership skills and is a great communicator.  I'm sure he will do a great job at Averett University." 

Harris is also known as an effective fundraiser and administrator.  During his career, Harris is credited with initiating and developing Wings of Gold, a capital fundraising campaign for women’s athletic programs at Arizona State.  The program created $100,000 in new funds annually.  He was also instrumental in solidifying a $1.7 billion television agreement between the NCAA and CBS as a member of the NCAA Negotiating Team.

Harris served as the director of intercollegiate athletics at Arizona State from 1985-1996, where he was responsible for 600 student-athletes competing in the Pacific-10 Conference in 21 varsity sports.  He supervised 130 full-time and 350 part-time employees, while managing an annual operating budget of $15 million.  Harris also pioneered fundraising efforts for several major projects with combined construction costs of $20 million.

Harris instituted a departmental re-organization at Arizona State that has since been used as a model for other institutions nationwide.  The plan was founded on the principles of academic success, equity, compliance and maximum utilization of resources.  Harris is also credited with guiding the university through a gender equity review by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.  The review revealed ASU to be in compliance with all relevant provisions of Title IX.

"Charles is one of my dearest and most admired colleagues, and is also a mentor in many ways,” said Dr. Janet Kittell, associate director of athletics at Syracuse University.  “He has always been a person of incredible vision.  Charles is articulate and has a variety of strengths.  Averett is most fortunate to have him.  Charles is also a person of fundamental fairness and has advanced the careers of women and minorities, including myself, for many years.  I wish him every success in this new position."

Harris helped make a huge financial impact on the state of Arizona, as he served on a negotiation team that resulted in the relocation of the National Football League’s Cardinals from St. Louis to the Phoenix area.  He also participated on a 12-person committee that successfully brought the 1996 Super Bowl to Arizona State University. 

Prior to his service at ASU, Harris was the director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation at University of Pennsylvania from 1979-1985.  At Pennsylvania, Harris created and oversaw the first women’s support program for intercollegiate athletics.  He served on a negotiating team that brought the first television broadcast contract to the school and helped increase the annual giving for Quaker athletics from less than $100,000 to more than $600,000 in a five-year period. 

While serving as commissioner of the MEAC (1996-2002), Harris helped increase the net revenue sales of the conference from $150,000 to $1.5 million from 1996-2001.  He also initiated and sold the MEAC’s first full season television package for football in 1999. 

In the spring of 2002, Harris withdrew from acceptance of the athletics directorship at Dartmouth College when a discrepancy in a resume from 1979 was reported.  “I sacrificed short term aspirations for long term values,” said Harris of the 1979 incident.  “I apologize to the entire athletic community for failing to live up to the standards that make athletics so important in any university community.  For me, the most important lesson learned is there is only one way to do anything; that is the right way.  In that regard, I am very appreciative of Averett viewing my past indiscretion in the context of an overall body of work in athletics that has spanned 25 years.”

Said Dr. Pfau of the Averett decision, “When Charles told me about the situation, we talked with the Dean at Dartmouth and then asked the advice of Averett’s faculty committee on intercollegiate athletics, who recommended that we go ahead. The final decision to hire him is mine, based on his complete record and great promise for the future.”

Administrators and coaches throughout the NCAA have offered praise for Harris and for Averett’s decision. The University received congratulations from officials at UVA, Dartmouth, NC State, Syracuse and other Division I schools and associations.

“Charles is well versed on the intricacies of intercollegiate athletics at every level of competition and has excellent contacts throughout the country,” said Terry Holland, former head men’s basketball coach for the Virginia Cavaliers.  “He should be an effective and valued colleague for each member of the Averett community and a tremendous asset to their athletic programs.”

Harris entered the field of athletic administration at University of Michigan in 1973 as an assistant in the sports information office.  He quickly moved up to assistant director of athletics at Michigan by 1979. 

Harris became the first African-American athletics director at an Ivy League school in 1979.  Subsequently, he became the first African-American director of athletics at a Pac-10 school in 1985 and is now the first African-American athletics director in the history of the USA South Athletic Conference.

Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in mass media arts from Hampton University.  He has studied on the postgraduate level at Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona State.  Harris has also worked with Newsweek Magazine as a researcher-writer.

Harris, a native of Virginia’s Mecklenburg County, is married to Lenora Billings-Harris.    He is also the nephew of the former Mayor of Danville, the late Charles H. Harris.