{"id":246786,"date":"2022-04-13T19:50:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T00:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=246786"},"modified":"2022-04-13T19:50:18","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T00:50:18","slug":"jill-devries-stepping-down-vcsu-athletic-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=246786","title":{"rendered":"Jill DeVries Stepping Down VCSU Athletic Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Valley City\u00a0 (VCSU<\/a>)\u00a0 Valley City State University director for athletics Jill DeVries will step down from her position this summer, VCSU president Alan LaFave announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

DeVries, who is currently in her fifth season as the director for athletics, will finish out the 2021-22 athletics season before resigning her position to take a job in the private sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish to thank Jill for her outstanding dedication and service to VCSU athletics,\u201d said LaFave. \u201cShe worked tirelessly to advance the quality and collegiate experience for hundreds of student-athletes during her tenure. She guided the athletic department through the difficulties of COVID-19 with minimal disruption. She helped shape a championship culture at VCSU and developed the department\u2019s mission to engage, educate, and elevate the student-athlete experience. Her collegial and collaborative style consistently placed student success at the forefront of decision-making, and we will miss her leadership on campus and in the community. We wish her the very best in her future endeavors.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeVries was named the first female athletic director in school history on Aug. 17, 2017, taking charge of the development, administration, vision and leadership of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s athletic programs at VCSU. She was recognized by her peers as the North Star Athletic Association Athletic Director of the Year in 2019.<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, DeVries has played a key role in the organization and launch of VCSU\u2019s first ever capital campaign, which when completed will include an expansion and renovation of VCSU\u2019s athletic facilities. She also led the athletic department through the numerous challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic the past two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful for the opportunity to have been the Athletic Director at VCSU,\u201d said DeVries. \u201cI appreciate the passionate coaching staff and many colleagues that make VCSU a positive experience for our dedicated student-athletes. I would also like to thank our alumni and fans for supporting our department throughout my tenure at VCSU. So many have shaped my life and I am proud to be forever a Viking. I\u2019m looking forward to spending more time watching my nephews and nieces chase their dreams during the next chapter in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeVries has spent the majority of her professional career at VCSU, joining the campus in 1999 as the head women\u2019s basketball coach. She held that role for 17 seasons before being hired as athletic director. DeVries is the all-time winningest coach in VCSU women\u2019s basketball history, and she was the first coach to lead the Viking women to the NAIA National Tournament \u2013 guiding her teams there four times in her last seven seasons.<\/p>\n

Valley City State University will begin the search for the next athletic director immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valley City\u00a0 (VCSU)\u00a0 Valley City State University director for athletics Jill DeVries will step down from her position this summer, VCSU president Alan LaFave announced Wednesday. DeVries, who is currently in her fifth season as the director for athletics, will finish out the 2021-22 athletics season before resigning her position […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":127296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=246786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246788,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246786\/revisions\/246788"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/127296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=246786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=246786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=246786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}