After a two-year pause in sports, it is time to return to the stands to cheer on the athletic programs at California State University, East Bay. At the forefront of that energy and excitement is the new athletic director, Allison Kern.

Kern has worked her way through being the head women’s basketball coach at Misericordia University to the Director of Athletics at St. Xavier University. She has finally made her way over to the West Coast for the first time. CSUEB will be the seventh institution she has worked for.

“I’ve had an untraditional, for women historically, path coming up into an athletic director chair,” said Kern as she discussed the steps in her life that have led her to be the athletic director for not one but three separate institutions.

Kern spoke of the difficulties that women and people of color face in gaining a spot in college athletics and administration in general and the excitement she felt once she realized she could enter those spaces.

“The only women I saw in administration came up through compliance,” added Kern, “Compliance is not for me.”

Being in athletic administration wasn’t the game plan she had intended for, but her track record shows she’s right where she belongs. Not only has Kern directly impacted many student-athletes across the board, but with her role in fundraising, she has taken her previous athletic departments to the next level.

“I like the idea of being able to impact more people than just my team,” she continued, “So what I do now impacts all of our student-athletes.”

As we pass the halfway point of the fall 2021 semester, the success of our fall teams speaks for itself. Our women’s and men’s cross country teams are both regionally ranked. Our women’s soccer team just set a school record for consecutive conference wins, and Kern was more than happy to spend time talking about her excitement of watching students be back in the game.

“I just love watching our kids play; that’s my favorite part,” said Kern as she listed the successes of this semester and what she’s looking forward to seeing in the spring.

Kern expressed her excitement and the enthusiasm of the entire team she has behind her here at East Bay for the growth the athletic department can have, and they’re hungry for more.

“I was excited about coming here,” Kern stated, “I’ve been here seven weeks, and it has exceeded my expectations.”