SCSU Vice President for Student Affairs Tracy Tyree has announced that Chris Barker has been selected as the Southern Owls‘ new director of athletics. Barker’s official start date will be July 1, 2021.
The sixth athletic director in Owls history, Barker comes to Southern from the University of Wisconsin Parkside, where he has served as the deputy director of athletics since 2020. He previously held the position of senior associate director of athletics for revenue generation and administration and was also the associate director of athletics for internal operations.
“I’m honored and humbled for the opportunity to join the Owl family at Southern Connecticut State University. I would like to thank President Bertolino, Dr. Tracy Tyree, and the search committee for this opportunity,” Barker said. “Throughout the search process, it became evident that everyone at Southern Connecticut State University is committed to the development of students and their well-being. I look forward to being the leader of the athletics department and the talented students, coaches and staff at SCSU.”
“He is the right leader at the right time for Southern Athletics,” Tyree said of Barker. “His knowledge, experience, passion, and enthusiasm will elevate our program to new heights. Southern’s student-athletes are amazing, and our athletics staff is positioned to realize even greater success. I am grateful to our search advisory committee . . . for facilitating a rigorous process and vetting a very strong pool of candidates to identify Chris as our next Director of Athletics.”
