January 23, 2023
Ursuline College’s long-time Athletic Director Cindy McKnight was selected to serve on the NCAA Division II Management Council. She began a four-year term on January 15, 2023
The NCAA Division II Management Council is central to recommending policies and regulations that govern the division to its President’s Council. It reviews and acts on recommendations from the Division II committee structure and from Division II representatives to committees with NCAA-wide functions. The council is also responsible for appointing Division II representatives to those committees.
“I’m honored to be among this distinguished group of colleagues dedicated to promoting our nation’s student-athletes,” states McKnight. She previously served on the NCAA National Women’s Basketball Committees as well as its Regional Advisory Committees for Women’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball. McKnight spearheaded Ursuline becoming a founding member of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) and was the first woman chair of the G-MAC’s Athletic Director’s Council.
A college athlete director for 31 years, McKnight was recruited to Ursuline in 1999 to create its athlete program which now has 11 women’s sports teams with a staff of 24. She oversaw Ursuline’s admission into the NCAA as a Division II school in 2013. During her tenure, she also was instrumental in the development of the Sister Diana Stano Athletic Center built after Ursuline’s previous facility was destroyed by a tornado just weeks after being admitted to the NCAA Division II.
An alumna of Mount St. Joseph College and Ashland University, she served as head coach of women’s basketball for several area colleges. McKnight was inducted into the Ursuline College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010.
“Throughout her career at Ursuline and beyond, Cindy McKnight has been a tremendous advocate and role model for women’s sports,” notes Ursuline College President Sr. Christine De Vinne, PhD, OSU. “I am excited that other schools across the country will be able to benefit from Cindy’s leadership and expertise.”
