By Braden Keith on SwimSwam
The University of Delaware will not retain Athletic Director Chrissi Rawak, and will instead begin a national search for her replacement, UD President Dennis Assanis told the faculty senate this week.
USA Swimming announced Rawak as their new CEO on February 19, ending her almost nine-year tenure as the athletics director at the University of Delaware. A week later, though, they announced that she would not take over that role, citing “unforeseen personal circumstances,” with Rawak citing the death of her mother-in-law and health of her father-in-law as the reasons for the about-face.
Within 24 hours, a different story emerged. A complaint about Rawak’s actions while an assistant coach at the University of Michigan in the 1990s was made with the U.S. Center for SafeSport after her announcement as CEO, and when USA Swimming brought the accusation up, Rawak resigned from the role.
That left uncertainty as to whether Rawak would return to the University of Delaware, where she was viewed as a strong supporter of the swimming & diving program – including participating in the full broadcast of a dual meet last month.
“These developments came at blazing speeds, and I was made aware in similar ways as every other person who reads the news. I don’t have access to it and I have not seen it. It’s confidential,” Assanis told the university’s faculty, as reported by the Newark Post. “Somebody did ask me if we had that information when we hired Chrissi nine years ago, and I just want to say for the sake of the audience here, no, I didn’t have that information.”
When asked whether Rawak could reapply for the job, Assanis was non-committal. “What Chrissi Rawak may want to do, I don’t know. I can’t speculate. She may want to apply to be reconsidered for the position, I don’t know at this point.”
The highlights of her tenure at Delaware included leading a $38 million fundraising campaign for the construction of an athletic department facility. She also led a partnership with the Philadelphia Flyers that is set to lead to the addition of a women’s ice hockey program in the near future.
The full accounting of the most transformative project of her time in Newark won’t be made until years into the future: she navigated the University of Delaware to FBS football, which is the top tier of collegiate football with the highest revenue opportunities, but also the highest expenses. The University of Delaware will join Conference USA next season.
The school will still play some FCS teams next season, but will also see a steep increase in competition with games scheduled against high profile programs like the University of Colorado. They will also play a non-conference game against UConn, a basketball powerhouse that has been sunk financially by its FBS football program and perhaps serves as a strong warning for mistakes to avoid by Delaware.
The University of Delaware is a privately governed, state assisted university, meaning that its athletics financials are not made public.
The school averaged 17,329 home fans at football games last season, which is 96% of Delaware Stadium’s official capacity, even while not being allowed to participate in the playoffs because of the transition. That ranked them 8th in FCS football, though it would have ranked them near the bottom of FBS.
Delaware’s swimming & diving programs will join the ASUN Conference next season because Conference USA does not currently sponsor swimming & diving championships.
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