Biography
After 28 years of service in the Western Illinois University Department
of Intercollegiate Athletics, Associate Athletics Director Kathy Orban retired on December 31, 2008.
Orban joined the Westerwinds
athletics department in August 1980 as an assistant field hockey coach
and was promoted to Assistant Athletics Director in January 1985,
taking over responsibilities of public relations, promotions, the
Westerwinds Athletic Club and home event management.
In the
spring of 1994 Orban was named Associate Athletics Director for
Compliance and took on the role of Senior Women’s Administrator. She
has since been responsible for eligibility, financial aid, athletic
academic services and recruiting related to NCAA and conference
requirements. She has also overseen the administration of several sport
programs.
“Kathy is a true pioneer in the intercollegiate
athletics industry,” said Western Illinois Athletics Director Dr. Tim
Van Alstine. “She has weathered some dramatic and progressive changes
during her tenure here at Western, and she has led the charge on many
innovative initiatives which have advanced our department and our
institution. One thing has remained constant, however. She has always
put the student-athlete first.”
Coming on board just one year
before Western Illinois joined the NCAA Division I ranks, Orban has
helped lead the program through several transitions. She saw the
inception of the Gateway Collegiate Athletics Conference in 1982Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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following a time of competition in the Association of Intercollegiate
Athletics for Women. In 1985, the Gateway added football to its list of
previously all-women’s championship sports, and in 1992, the women’s
programs realigned with their men’s teams in their respective
conferences. At that time, the Westerwinds joined the Leathernecks in
the Mid-Continent Conference, which had been in existence as a
men’s-only league since 1982.
According to Orban, one of the
most significant changes she has experienced in her career has been the
opportunity for women to have athletic scholarships.
“When I
started at WIU as an assistant coach there was no recruiting off-campus
and very limited scholarship budgets compared to the men’s sports. Now
we have fully-funded women’s sport programs. When I was in high school
I did not have opportunities to play. I grew up helping a boys’
baseball team by shagging balls. My friend’s dad allowed me to have a
small part of that organized sports experience. From that I sought
every opportunity to play sports, and since then I have used my career
to mentor and coach female student-athletes.”
Orban’s active
involvement at the university, conference and national levels,
including time as the Western Illinois COAP President, member of the
Presidential Search Committee, President of the Western Organization
for Women, director of numerous conference tournaments, chair of
various conference committees, and Chair of the NCAA Division I
National Softball Committee, has given her insight into Western
Illinois’ best asset.
“We are people rich,” Orban says any
time she meets with a recruit or potential staff member. “Without a
doubt the best thing we have here is our people skills. A
student-athlete has a great academic opportunity here, and the bottom
line is that they have the potential to build relationships with their
professors, their coaches, their teammates and the administrative
staff, which all contribute to their success.”
Her career has
also included working as a coach and women’s athletic director at
Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wis., and serving as an instructor and
coach at the high school level. A native of Lansing, Ill., Orban earned
her bachelor’s degree in 1973 from Eastern Illinois, where she competed
in field hockey, badminton and softball, and her master’s degree from
Western Illinois in 1977. She was inducted into the Illinois Amateur
Softball Association Hall of Fame in 2008 as a member of the Macomb
Magic Softball Team.
“I have been impacted by a combination of
people at Western,” said Orban. “(Former women’s athletics director)
Dr. Marion Blackinton mentored me as a graduate student, then hired me
and gave me this opportunity. The opportunity to work for Western, the
experiences with various members of the campus community, and watching
the campus work together and interact have all impacted me. The
relationships with student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fellow
staff members, fans, friends and other colleagues have meant so much to
me. I want all to know how I have valued and appreciated your
association and friendship. And as I look back, it all started because
