Director of the Catamount Club

Good day Catamount Nation,

I write you today to update you on the search for the Assistant Athletic Director / Director of the Catamount Club position. My staff and I undertook a nationwide search to find the best person to assume leadership of our fund raising efforts, a search that I believe I owed to the institution, our alumni, our supporters, our coaches, and most of all, our student-athletes. I spent significantly more time on this search process than any other search I have undertaken while at WCU; I reached out to colleagues at other institutions as well as cold-calling individuals whose background and experience peaked my interest. When the searching was over, I settled on a handful of individuals to speak with, at length and on multiple occasions, about our position, their desire, and their "fit", to become part of the Catamount family. After spending many hours with potential candidates, it became obvious to me that the top candidate to assume leadership of the Catamount Club was already on our staff, and regardless of the quantity of interviews I might schedule, that fact would not change.

There were several main qualities for which I was searching: a proven leader; someone with experience in fund raising, athletics, and budgets; and an individual who "FIT" within Catamount Nation. In Ryan Jones, I have found an individual who not only meets, but also surpasses, my wildest expectations with each of these characteristics. Ryan has done a tremendous job during this interim period in leading the Catamount Club, and I know he will be the leader I was searching for from the beginning of this process.

Therefore, I want to share with you that I officially offered the position to Ryan this morning, and I am happy to report he has agreed to become the new Assistant Athletic Director / Director of the Catamount Club! I look forward to working with Ryan, and his staff, to continue to move the Catamount Club forward in the coming years, in our continuing efforts to support the young people who represent all of us so well.

Please join me in welcoming Ryan, and his wife Meredith, into this new role.

Go Cats!
Randy Eaton
Director of WCU Athletics

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Ryan Jones joined the Western Carolina Department of Athletics as an Assistant Director of the Catamount Club in July 2014, advancing to the Associate Director position during the summer of 2015. He came to Catamount athletics following a two-year stint working at the University of Tennessee in the Tennessee Fund as a development assistant.

During his time in the UT Athletic Department, Jones prospected and cultivated supporters to be engaged with UT Athletics through their annual fund and capital campaign, managed individual football game premium seat sales, and planned multiple donor events amongst other additional responsibilities.

Prior to UT, Jones served stints in athletic departments at Shaw University and North Carolina State University in a myriad of roles, including sports information, marketing, compliance, and event management.

The Raleigh, N.C. native holds a B.S. in Sport Management from North Carolina State University where he was Valedictorian, and a Master of Business Administration and Master of Sport Management from the University of Tennessee. Jones is married to the former Meredith Meadows of Dandridge, Tenn., a University of Tennessee graduate.