Edward Waters University names Ivana Rich athletic director, first woman to hold role

Edward Waters University named Ivana Rich as its new executive vice president and athletic director Tuesday, making her the first woman to hold the athletic director office in the institution's 156-year history.

Rich comes to Jacksonville from Norfolk State University, where she spent the past seven years in roles including acting director of athletics, associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator.

She takes the place of Paul Bryant, who stepped down from Edward Waters in August after three years to take the same post at NCAA Division I Alabama A&M.

Rich said she particularly appreciated the significance of her new role in the 50th anniversary after Title IX opened new doors for women in athletics.

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"I'm excited to be in the position to do that [serve as EWU's first female AD]," Rich said, "and be an example for other aspiring female athletic administrators and head coaches, because we need more of them."

University president A. Zachary Faison Jr. pointed to the strong support of Tigers athletes as a deciding factor in favor of Rich, describing her as a "rising star in athletic administration."

"She connected with our student-athletes in an extraordinary way," Faison said. "To a person, the groups of student-athletes that she met with said, 'She cares about us and she's someone who we believe will support our success.' Not just on the playing field, but also in the classroom and just in their overall personal development.

"That, really, was the clincher."

Faison said the school enlisted the support of Parker Executive Search, an Atlanta-based search firm, to assist in evaluating a pool of an estimated 50 applicants.

Rich arrives in Jacksonville with a record of success inside the competitive arena as well. She played Division I college volleyball at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2006-09, where she set school records (both since surpassed) for career blocks and single-season hitting percentage.

She also coached volleyball at Virginia State from 2011 to 2013, winning Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association coach of the year honors in 2013, before turning her career path to the administrative side.

Rich said she believes the recently increased spotlight on HBCUs, such as a Sports Illustrated cover story last month about Deion Sanders and Jackson State, presents new opportunities for colleges like EWU.

"I think the time is now for HBCUs," she said, "and so we have to capitalize on that."

Faison expressed confidence that the leadership change would not present a challenge for the university's transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to NCAA Division II. EWU completed the first year of the transition during the summer, attaining full membership in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

"We've put the resources in place, the structures in place, the people in place and the processes in place," Faison said. "So now it's a well-oiled machine... Dr. Rich is going to step in and just continue the progress."

The new hire represents the latest of several major moves for the athletic department since 2021, including last year's opening of the Nathaniel Glover Community Field and Stadium. Faison also said that EWU hopes to conduct the ribbon-cutting ceremony on its new health and wellness center, estimated at $500,000, before the end of 2022.

Now that she's on board in Jacksonville, Rich intends to place EWU in the forefront of Northeast Florida's educational scene.

"I'm especially out in the community, really telling the story of HBCUs and the story of Edward Waters University, so our community is well ingrained and well involved in what we're doing here," Rich said. "We want to be a part of the community and we want them to be a part of what we're doing here as well."

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX, and sign up for the First Coast Varsity newsletter at https://profile.jacksonville.com/newsletters/first-coast-varsity/.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Ivana Rich named first woman athletic director at Edward Waters