Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University Vice President and Director of Athletics
Chris King announced additions and staff changes to his senior leadership team Monday.
Joining the Colonials as Deputy Director of Athletics, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) is
Chelsea Blakely, while
Kim Graham will serve as Deputy Director of Athletics, Chief Operating Officer.
"We are fortunate to add
Chelsea Blakely and
Kim Graham to our athletics leadership team for RMU athletics," said King. "The Deputy Director of Athletics hires will have an immediate impact in our commitment and investment into competitive excellence and our student-athlete experience, student success and student-athlete welfare initiatives. Chelsea and Kim will be terrific additions to our athletics administrative team and will provide a collaborative leadership style for our athletic staff and coaches."
Blakely arrives at Robert Morris from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), where she has spent the last 10 years, including the last four as Senior Associate Athletic Director for External Operations. She also spent the 2018-19 season as the program's SWA.
While with the Vaqueros, Blakely was involved in strategic planning and oversight of revenue generation, branding, fan experience, digital media, licensing and sports administration. Through marketing and communication strategies, Blakely led the development of an external operations plan designed to increase brand awareness and build brand affinity.
"I am incredibly grateful and excited to join the Robert Morris University family," Blakely said. "We have the opportunity to build upon the university's success not just in athletics, but academics, as well, by serving as the front porch for the university and integrating ourselves deeply within the community. I want to thank
Chris King for this opportunity. His mentorship and guidance have been crucial in my professional development. Chris greatly values student-athlete welfare, student-athlete success and the student-athlete experience. As a former student-athlete, I appreciate his focus on the holistic development of student-athletes beyond what is accomplished in competition. I look forward to working collaboratively to elevate the student-athlete experience and prepare our student-athletes for excellence in life."
A native of Houston, Texas, Blakely was a volleyball student-athlete for the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), earning a Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing in 2009. She is the program's all-time career leader in assists with 3,905. Two years later, while serving as a graduate assistant with UTPA, she earned her MBA, also in marketing.
In her role at Robert Morris, Blakely will be responsible for fostering a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusiveness throughout all levels of the organization and will also serve as sport administrator for volleyball, softball and women's lacrosse.
"Chelsea had an amazing impact on the athletic department at UTRGV in the areas of student services, marketing of the sport programs, and elevating the department brand," said King. "We are excited to recruit her talents to RMU as the Chief Marketing and Brand Officer for intercollegiate athletics and to serve our student-athletes and coaches in the areas of title IX, inclusion, diversity, gender equity and student-athlete welfare initiatives as the Senior Woman Administrator. Chelsea will showcase athletics as the most visible marketing tool for RMU, and will create a visionary plan of action to engage the student body, faculty, staff and the community as we continue to elevate athletics in the Pittsburgh region. We are bringing one of the rising stars in our industry to RMU and we are extremely excited to have her as a member of the RMU family."
Graham joins the staff at Robert Morris after spending the last year at UTRGV as Senior Associate Athletic Director for Operations. In his role with the Vaqueros, Graham managed and oversaw all areas of athletic events and facility operations. He will do the same for the Colonials, directing oversight on event management, facility maintenance, equipment operations, facility master planning, capital projects, food and beverage operations, camps and championships.
Graham will also direct the day-to-day operations for several student welfare areas, including sports medicine and strength and conditioning. He will also serve as the sport administrator for football, cross country and track & field, rowing and golf.
"I am looking forward to the privilege of working at Robert Morris University, an institution with a reputation for academic and athletics excellence," said Graham. "I have been on both sides of the desk with
Chris King, and have seen him grow from a first-year athletics administrator into the mature, industry standard leader he is today. I support his convictions and values concerning putting the student-athlete first, and doing all he can to make their college experience memorable. His desire to improve student-athlete welfare is well documented at each of the institutions where he has worked. I know his goals and leadership style will not change now that he is home. I welcome the opportunity to be on his staff again."
During his career in collegiate athletics, Graham served as the Director of Athletics at both Liberty University (1997-2005) and Shorter University (2015-16). During his time leading the athletic department at Liberty, the Flames won five Big South Conference Sassar Cup Awards as well as the first two Big South Men's All-Sports Awards.
Graham served as Senior Associate Athletic Director at Southeastern Louisiana from 2006 to 2008 before serving in the same capacity at Campbell University from 2008 to 2015.
"We are elated that Kim has made the decision to join the RMU family," said King. "Kim will bring a vast amount of leadership experience in collegiate athletics, serving close to 30 years as a senior athletics administrator, including running his own successful athletic department. Kim recently was named a member of his alma mater's hall of fame as a college football player, and has served as a college football coach. His breadth and depth of experiences will serve well as a sports administrator for football and our sport programs. Throughout his career, Kim has demonstrated a genuine ability to connect with people and has an uncompromising integrity and moral character. He is a value based administrator who will provide character based leadership for our student-athletes, coaches and staff."
Graham owns a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and a Master of Arts degree in secondary education, both from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky. An NAIA All-American in football, he was inducted into the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019. Prior to getting into athletics administration, Graham was a football coach at three different NCAA institutions.
In addition to Blakely and Graham joining the RMU Department of Athletics,
Marty Galosi will now serve as Senior Associate Athletic Director, Chief of Staff, while
Nelle Stahura, the head rowing coach for the Colonials, will serve as Assistant to the Athletic Director.
Galosi, who has been at Robert Morris since of October of 1990 and served as Interim Director of Athletics since December, will be responsible for developing and implementing campus and community outreach strategies to enhance campus, community and alumni engagement. In addition to being responsible for special events, he will serve as sport administrator for the women's soccer and men's and women's hockey programs.
Stahura, who has served as Interim SWA since March and will be in her fifth season leading the rowing program for the Colonials in 2019-20, will assist Blakely with SWA duties while overseeing the management of the Colonial Leadership Academy (CLA). In addition, Stahura will serve as the administrative liaison for the RMU Island Sports Center and will assist with the management of the Student-Athlete Experience and Leadership Development internship program.
"Marty has played an instrumental role in the success of RMU athletics for many years and now will serve a greater impact in our day-to-day operations as Chief of Staff," said King. "He will also have oversight of our campus relations, community relations, and alumni engagement. Nelle has served the department in the interim as the Senior Woman Administrator and I have asked her to remain as a member of the athletics senior leadership team in addition to her duties as the head rowing coach. She has a passion and dedication for the student-athlete experience and I have asked her to continue with additional administrative duties in serving our student-athlete body. The two additional senior athletic administrative hires and two internal promotions are the first-step to our future leadership team and model."
