July 1, 2011
Albuquerque, N.M. — Dr. Robert Clark, Jr. and Reginald Garrett have been named Assistant Athletic Director for Major Gifts and Assistant Athletic Director for Development respectively, replacing David Spafford and David Sabolcik who left the university for other academic institutions. The announcement was made by Lee De Leon, UNM’s Associate Athletic Director for Development.
“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Garrett and Dr. Rob Clark to the Lobo Family!” said De Leon. “Both are tremendous additions to the Lobo Club staff that will be able to hit the ground running and help take our fundraising efforts to the next level.”
Clark spent the past year at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas, where he was Associate Athletic Director of Development. In that role, he led the ASU Athletics Development team in the ASU Centennial Capital Campaign, helping the university to record the most successful fundraising year in ASU history. Major gifts at Angelo State increased nearly 400%, and under his watch ASU secured the largest men’s basketball gift in school history.
Clark also led the ASU Athletic Foundation annual fund campaign that increased membership 280%, and the athletics-only endowment increased 100% as well. Clark also had a hand in a wide variety of other tasks at Angelo State, including integrating a marketing plan for fundraising utilizing different mediums such as TV, radio, print and web. He also served as the sport coordinator for baseball.
Prior to Angelo State, he spent two years as Special Assistant to the Sr. Associate Athletic Director at Texas A&M, where he was part of a collaborative effort that helped secure a pair of $1 million gifts, one for continuing academic aid for student-athletes, and one for student-athlete support. Clark was also tasked with a marketing study that eventually led to the establishment of a ticket sales call center that helped lead Texas A&M to increased ticket sales and two attendance records at A&M.
While at Texas A&M, Clark also served as an athletic compliance coordinator, handling several game-day duties as well as monitoring summer camps and clinics, and working with external groups such as boosters and staff on rules education.
Clark, 30, received his doctor of philosophy from Texas A&M in 2010, his master of arts in social science from Occidental College in 2006, and his bachelor’s in 2005 from Occidental. He played football at Utah State as a freshman before transferring to Occidental, where he was captain as a senior. Rob and his wife Emily have a two-year old daughter, named Anne.
Garrett comes to UNM after a year away from the collegiate ranks, spending last year developing his own company, RWG Strategy in South Bound Brook, New Jersey. There he served as a federal fiduciary for the Department of Veterans Affairs, where he managed over $1 million on behalf of veterans for care, maintenance and quality of life. Garrett has a strong collegiate marketing background, working at three Division I universities.
He spent a year at Vanderbilt as the Director of Marketing, overseeing a nearly $1 million budget. As director, he had oversight responsibilities for marketing and promotions, game day operations, group ticket sales, licensing, and community outreach. He also implemented an internship program for undergraduate and graduate students that is still in place today.
Prior to Vanderbilt, Garrett spent two years with the Virginia Cavaliers in the same capacity, handling a range of tasks from the university’s online store to assisting in scheduling of events for football and basketball. His 2007-08 women’s basketball marketing plan was a rousing success, helping the Cavs to a 35% attendance increase, including a 59% increase in season ticket sales.
Garrett also served as game operations manager for both basketball and football, and he worked with various companies in generating title sponsors for various volleyball and basketball tournaments.
Garrett has also spent time at the University of Houston and Saint Louis University. At SLU as the Director of Ticket Sales and Promotions, he handled all aspects of marketing and promotions, along with handling not just ticket distribution and sales, but marketing to groups as well. He showed his acumen as men’s basketball attendance increased 16%, women’s basketball increased 9% and group sales saw an increase of 130%.
Garrett, 32, earned his juris doctorate from the University of Houston in 2005, and his bachelor’s from Seton Hall in 2001, where he was the captain of the men’s basketball team.