Athletics Attract A Bigger Enrollment
Sarah Richards
Issue date: 3/22/07 Section: Sports
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According to Patrick Quinn, the vice president of enrollment management at UC, only 37 percent of this year's incoming freshmen class is from out-of-state. However, one of the ways that the school is becoming more well known in New York state and surrounding states is through athletics.
Bobby Sturdahl, a sophomore men's soccer player at UC, said he would never have considered UC as a choice until he was contacted by Steve Christensen, the men's head soccer coach. Sturdahl, who is from Rhode Island, had never even heard of Utica before.
"I had been looking at Division I schools, but once I heard about Utica and its men's soccer program, I thought it might be a better choice for me," Sturdahl said.
Kelly Regan, also a sophomore at Utica, plays both women's soccer and lacrosse for the Pioneers. She, much like Sturdahl, had never heard about the school before.
"I had no idea what or even where Utica College was. And, I'm from Long Island, so I thought I had heard of most schools in-state," Regan said. "I got an e-mail and a phone call from Claire (McClain, the women's soccer head coach), and then I started thinking seriously about attending."
Some students, unlike Sturdahl and Regan, heard about UC and the athletics not directly from the coach, but through other athletes.
"I heard about Utica and the football team here through an old teammate of mine from high school [St. Mary's in Rutherford, New Jersey]," said Mike Mastrella, a sophomore on the football team at Utica. "He was playing up here, and I started seriously considering Utica on my list of schools." UC was the only Division III school on Mastrella's list.
"I was really only looking at DI schools, but something about what Joe [his former and present teammate] said made me seriously think about Utica and its program," Mastrella added.
Ashley Herbert, a sophomore women's lacrosse player at Utica, had been seriously considering Syracuse University, the founder of UC, as a choice for her college career.
"I was looking at SU, which is DI, and I heard about Utica, which is DIII, and somewhere I could play lacrosse," Herbert said. Being from Pennsylvania, she had only heard of Syracuse before. After she realized she could play here, Herbert was more interested in checking out the rest of the school.
"I realized I could play, and Utica had a lot of the characteristics I was looking for in a school; especially the size of classes and the school as a whole," Herbert added.
"I absolutely believe that athletics is bringing in a lot of out-of-state students," Quinn said. "We have teams that primarily recruit out-of-state, like men's hockey targeting the Midwest and New England areas."
While admissions and academic programs may be trying to get the UC name out there, the athletics department is doing its part as well.
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