Friends names Carole Obermeyer new athletic director

Friends University is making a change in leadership in its athletics department.

Friends Vice President of Student Affairs Carole Obermeyer will add athletic director to her title, with current athletic director Joe Zimmerman moved to Business Operations Specialist for Student Affairs beginning June 1.

“We wanted to make some adjustments in our budget, we asked ourselves ‘How can we streamline? How can we do business better?’” Obermeyer said. “There are better deals that we can get through vendors with student affairs … we want to try and centralize our funds.

“(Zimmerman) wil handle the business side of athletics and student affairs, as far as ordering and receipts and paying bills.”

Obermeyer, who was the athletic director at Newberry (S.C.) College in 1994-95, said the move was approved by incoming Friends president Amy Bragg Carey and the school’s board of trustees and announced to Friends employees on Monday.

Zimmerman was named the KCAC’s Athletic Director of the Year in 2006-2007 and 2008-2009.

“I am very excited by the changes,” Zimmerman wrote in an e-mail. “As it affords us an opportunity to streamline some business processes that ultimately will serve the students and university more effectively”

Obermeyer, who has been at Friends since 2006, said the move was “absolutely not” a demotion for Zimmerman. As Vice President of Student Affairs, her duties included oversight of Zimmerman and the athletic department.

Wichita State made a similar move last month when athletic director Eric Sexton was promoted to Vice President of Student Affairs and Executive Athletic Director.

“The change was arrived at after careful consideration for student-athletes and the university, couple with Joe’s desire to lead a more streamlined, centralized business operations approach for the Student Affairs division,” Obermeyer wrote in an e-mail. “Both Joe and I are excited about our new roles.”

This story was originally published May 12, 2015 at 4:05 PM with the headline "Friends names Carole Obermeyer new athletic director."