CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Following a national search, Lesley University has announced the appointment of Dan Campagna as the next Director of Athletics, starting the role on August 7, 2023. Campagna joins the Lynx staff after a 12-year stint at Emmanuel College where he most recently served as the Senior Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Athletic Communications, Sports Information & Compliance.
"Dan's nearly two decades of experience and extensive background in athletic administration, student engagement, and coaching will be valuable to our current and future Lesley students," said Tom Englehardt, Vice President of Enrollment Initiatives.
Campagna makes the move across the river becoming Lesley's fifth AD following a long stint at Emmanuel, his alma mater, where he served in several roles ranging from Senior Assistant Athletic Director, Compliance Officer, Director of Athletic Communications, Women's Soccer Head Coach, Sports Information Director and Adjunct Faculty Professor. He takes over the Lynx helm from Stephanie Smyrl who served in the role for six years before departing for the same position at Emerson College.
"I'm so excited to join the Lynx family and be a part of the next chapter of Lesley Athletics," said Campagna. "Thank you to President Steinmayer, Vice President Englehardt and the AD search committee for the opportunity to work at an institution that aligns with my values as an athletic administrator while doing something that I'm passionate about."
Campagna was a part of the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) SID Staff of the Year, bestowed to the Emmanuel SID office for the 2021-22 academic year. A member of the College Sports Communicators (CSC) (formerly College Sports Information Directors of America - CoSIDA), he was also named a 2020-21 CoSIDA District 1 Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest winner for the feature story he wrote titled Breaking Barriers and Ankles with Jamad Fiin in the category of Social Justice/Diversity & Inclusion. The contest recognizes excellence in feature writing, historical features, administrator/coach profiles and event coverage.
A panel of industry experts selected Campagna a member of the Sports 40 Under 40 Class of 2019 at the National High School Athletic Coaches Association (NHSACA) annual convention. This honor, sponsored by Coach and Athletic Director Magazine, is reserved exclusively for outstanding young industry professionals who are demonstrating exceptional commitment to their sport(s), innovation and industry leadership within the high school, collegiate, professional and industry athletic professions. Dan was the only male professional selected among the collegiate ranks in 2019.
"It is an exciting time at Lesley as we embark on the master campus plan to update and align our campus facilities with our mission as an urban university with programs that live at the intersection of education, counseling and psychology, and visual arts," added Englehardt who chaired the AD search committee. "I am looking forward to working with Dan as we look to grow our student-athlete population and expand the enthusiasm in athletics throughout our community."
Campagna, a native of Somers, Connecticut, graduated magna cum laude, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in English Communications from Emmanuel in 2007. He earned a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts - Boston in June of 2011. While pursuing his graduate degree, Campagna worked at UMass Boston, as both a Graduate Assistant and later the Interim Director of Sports Information for the Beacons directing the sports information efforts for the Beacons' 18 varsity athletic teams. He also served as an Assistant Coach to the Women's Soccer program for eight seasons at UMB, helping the program capture its first Little East Conference (LEC) Championship in 2012.
In addition to his full-time duties at Emmanuel, Campagna also served as a Head Coach to the Emmanuel Women's Soccer program and was voted the 2017 GNAC Coach of the Year by his fellow coaching peers in his only season at the helm of the program. Following the one-year stint as Head Coach, Campagna remained on the staff for five seasons while retaining his full-time responsibilities with the department, coaching a total of 15 GNAC All-Conference players including four Major Award Winners, three All-Region players and one CoSIDA Academic All-American over five years and four playing seasons.
At Emmanuel, Campagna was a three-time GNAC Academic All-Conference selection and received the Emmanuel College Athletic Department's Senior Leadership Award in 2007. He was a four-year standout on the Men's Soccer program and also competed on the Men's Volleyball and Indoor Track & Field squads, as well as the Baseball club team.
Lesley University is a proud member of the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and uniquely focuses on the human arts, with programs that live at the intersection of education, counseling, and the visual arts. As the largest educator of teachers and counselors in New England, Lesley prepares students to impact lives, strengthen communities, and act as catalysts for a more just world. More than 6,000 students study across four colleges—a professionally-focused liberal arts college, an independent college of art and design, a graduate school of education, and a graduate school of social sciences—as well as in the Threshold Program, a residential program for students with learning differences.
Spanning from Porter Square to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Lesley extends the NAC into one of the most dynamic learning environments in the country. Student-athletes at Lesley are working toward careers as mental health counselors, educators, expressive arts therapists, business leaders, social workers, designers, and visual artists.
Celebrating over 25 years of excellence, the North Atlantic Conference was founded in 1997 as the North Atlantic Women's Conference (NAWC) to provide opportunities for female student athletes to compete in postseason tournaments. The NAWC added men's sports and was renamed the North Atlantic Conference in 1999. The NAC currently sponsors 18 men's and women's championships as members of NCAA Division III, including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's outdoor track & field, and women's volleyball.