Bostic Named NACDA Athletic Director of the Year

“It is an honor to be recognized by my peers and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics,” said Bostic about receiving this prodigious award. “I recognize that none of my work would be possible without the support and vision of my Notre Dame of Maryland University family. Our commitment to teamwork, servant leadership and student-athletes is the foundation for my leadership.”

Starting in March of 2020, Bostic and the department of athletics, like many other institutions in the nation, faced daunting challenges during COVID-19.

After seeing the cancellation of spring sports in 2020 carry over to fall and eventually winter sports, the department met those challenges head on under Bostic’s leadership. Throughout the year, they developed innovative programs to keep their student-athletes and coaches engaged as active participants in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) programming.

In connecting with the conference office, Bostic helped secure opportunities for head coaches to use their voices in different CSAC programs. Bostic developed social justice programming for the CSAC Raise Your Game Program called “Getting in Good Trouble.” The CSAC held different leadership programs in which the coaches had the opportunity to share their knowledge and leadership skills. The CSAC also participated in the NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign.

On campus, Bostic worked with her Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to produce programs for all student-athletes. Some of the virtual events that were held via Zoom included leadership trainings, workout sessions, and trivia nights. NDMU Athletics also hosted its Third Annual SAAC Bingo Night, where over $500 was raised to donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Working alongside her student-athletes, Bostic joined the #ALLINTOVOTE campaign leading up to the 2020 election, encouraging student-athletes and the campus community to register to vote and learn about the voting process. Through this endeavor, many NDMU student-athletes got to the polls, including many for the first time.

To help celebrate the academic success of their student-athletes, Bostic began a weekly initiative called the High Achieving Gators. This award recognized student-athletes who received high achievement on any assignment or test for that week.

Simultaneously, Bostic shifted her focus to not only monitoring the health and well-being of her student-athletes, but also for the larger NDMU community. As members of the COVID response team, Bostic and her team in athletics championed NDMU’s weekly campus surveillance testing, an essential facet of the University’s COVID health and safety protocols. Their efforts ensured measurable and consistent safety on campus and were instrumental in the smooth return this spring.

Bostic joined the athletics department in 2018. Since that time, she has helped bring the university its first CSAC Championships in volleyball and lacrosse. She also helped draw attention from the NCAA, earning the association’s Division III Diversity Initiative Spotlight in 2019 and helped Notre Dame receive an NCAA OneTeam recognition award nomination.

She is currently the CSAC Chair-Elect for the Athletic Directors Committee, CSAC Regional Advisory Committee member for women’s lacrosse, and is on the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics.

Bostic is the second athletic director from the CSAC to be awarded the NACDA Athletics Director of the Year honor and the first woman from the conference to be honored. She will be recognized leading up to and in conjunction with the 2021 NACDA & Affiliates Virtual Convention, July 27-28.