PROVIDENCE FRIARS
PROVIDENCE COLLEGE The renovations enhanced the game-day experience by adding 20 luxury boxes, new seats,
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video scoreboard, sound system, updated restaurant and concession stands, team store, locker rooms and new weight training/fitness areas. These renovations have enabled Providence College to serve as host for the First and Second Rounds of the 2010, 2016, and the future 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
Driscoll established the athletic fundraising philosophy and the Friars Athletic
Fund, led by its fundraising and development staff, has been instrumental in making program upgrades possible. The athletic department has exceeded fundraising goals on a yearly basis, reaching $7-million in cash donations during the 2019-20 fiscal calendar. The additional revenue remains critical to building and supporting championship programs and providing the best opportunities to Providence College’s student-athletes. The funds Driscoll and his staff raise help directly support each of the College’s 19 NCAA Division I programs, the Friars Forever Fund and capital projects.
In 2019, he was named as the AD Representive for the BIG EAST Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. This group is tasked to review policies, initiatives and
best practices among BIG EAST member institutions and other athletics conferences and develop strategies designed to enhance the athletics-related D&I efforts already underway on BIG EAST campuses. In collaboration with the Office of Instituational Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Driscoll helped create a position on campus: “Director of Training and Education for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.” This goal of this position is to strengthen and build upon the College's efforts to cultivate policies, practices and structures that ensure an inclusive, equitable and hospitable environment for students, student-athletes, staff, trainers and coaches.
In the past, Driscoll has served as the President of the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association. He also has served as First Vice President and Second Vice
President for the organization. Driscoll previously served on the NCAA Division I Management Council, the NCAA Ice Hockey Championship Committee (Chair 2010-11) and was the Chair of the BIG EAST Athletic Directors in 2011-12. Driscoll also was an NCAA Fellows Programs Executive Mentor. Currently, Driscoll serves on the BIG EAST Finance Committee with the league’s other presidents and also is a Chair for the Hockey East Board of Directors. Additionally, Driscoll represents the BIG EAST’s athletic directors on the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serves as a mentor for the Division I-AAA mentoring program and serves on the Hockey East Television Negotiations and Marketing Committees.
Driscoll joined the Providence community after 14½ years in athletic administration at the University of California, Berkeley, culminating in serving as the
Acting Executive Director for Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports.
Driscoll was hired at Cal as the Associate Athletic Director for Student Services, a position he held for five years. He then assumed the position of Executive
Associate Athletic Director, at which point he was responsible for the administration of 27 varsity sports, a staff of 250 and a $36 million budget. Prior to coming to Providence, he served as the Acting Executive Director for Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreational Sports. During his tenure, Cal won over 20 national championships and competed in the Citrus, Copper, Alamo and Aloha Bowls. The Bears also finished as high as 12th in the NACDA Directors’ Cup.
Before arriving at Cal, Driscoll served six years (1981-87) as the Athletic Director and Chair of the Department of Physical Education, Recreation and Intramural
Sports at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. Prior to Mills, Driscoll was Assistant Athletic Director and Head Baseball and Hockey Coach at Union College in Schenectady, N.Y. from 1977-81. Driscoll played hockey, where he was captain and team MVP for three-consecutive years, and baseball at Ithaca College (N.Y.). He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education in 1974 and his Master of Science in physical education/psychology of sports from Ithaca in 1975.
A native of West Concord, Mass., Driscoll was inducted into the inaugural class of Concord-Carlisle High School’s Athletic Hall of Fame (football, ice hockey and
baseball) in 1993. He was also inducted into the 50th Anniversary Class of Ithaca College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019. He and his wife Cathy have three grown children.
2020 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE SOCCER • 22
