SVSU Board adds women’s lacrosse as varsity sport, grants tenure to 12 faculty

The Saginaw Valley State University Board of Control approved adding women’s lacrosse as a varsity sport, competing in NCAA Division II, during the Board’s regular meeting Monday, Feb. 17.

Lacrosse is the fastest-growing college sport in the nation, according to the NCAA, and it is increasingly popular in Michigan. Over the past three years, the number of high school girls lacrosse programs in the state has increased from 120 to 180. SVSU has offered lacrosse as a club sport since 2010. 

SVSU plans to start its intercollegiate women’s lacrosse program for the 2021-22 academic year and will compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), which currently has 6 schools competing in the sport. With the addition of lacrosse, SVSU will offer 9 men’s sports and 11 women’s sports.

Braddock Field at SVSU will be converted from natural grass to a synthetic turf surface as part of preparations to introduce women’s lacrosse; it will continue to be the home field for SVSU’s men’s and women’s soccer teams, as well.

The Board also granted tenure to 12 faculty members, effective July 1. They are:

• Lisa Brewer, occupational therapy
• Jill Brown, occupational therapy
• Maribel Colorado-Garcia, Spanish
• Rachel Darr, kinesiology
• Samantha Deere, kinesiology
• Micah DelVecchio, economics
• Poonam Dharam, computer science
• Cynthia Hupert, nursing
• Matthew Mitchell, social work
• Christine Noller, health sciences
• Chatdanai Pongpatipat, marketing
• Tina Thornton, nursing 

In other action, the Board:

• approved the Board’s meeting schedule for 2020-21.
• adopted revised Board of Control bylaws.
• appointed a nominating committee for May Board elections.
• requested conveyance of property and accepted obligations for Curtiss Hall. The bonds for the building, constructed in 1996, have been paid in full, and the State Building Authority has transferred ownership to SVSU.