Lake Forest College Vice President for Athletics and Career Advancement Jackie Slaats and Director of Athletics Nicki Pieart announced Friday the addition of Lou Groce to the department. He will serve as the Foresters' Assistant Director of Athletics for Marketing and External Relations.
Groce will fill numerous roles in his position, including leadership for athletic marketing, communication, and fan engagement. He will help ensure the continued growth and success of the Forester Athletic Network (F.A.N. Club), the department's booster club; develop and implement effective communication plans with campus stakeholders; oversee special events; and assist with fundraising initiatives and other departmental programming.
Having served as the Midwest Conference Director of Media and Information from 2014 to 2018, Groce is already familiar with Lake Forest College Athletics and several members of the department. After his time with the Foresters' primary league, he was the sports information director at California State University Bakersfield for a year-and-a-half before taking on his most recent role as assistant director for media and communication at Pacific Lutheran University in August of 2019.
During his nearly three years at Pacific Lutheran, Groce oversaw the Lutes' social media accounts, helped oversee the creation all the department's digital and print materials, trained and supervised student workers, collaborated with various other departments on campus, and assisted with fundraising efforts. He also filled sports information roles, generating feature stories other press releases for athletic contests and other special events.
Groce graduated from North Central College in 2011 with a degree in sports management and added a master's degree in leadership studies from the same institution three years later. He served as a sports information student intern during his undergraduate years and as a graduate assistant to the North Central Sports Information Director later on. Groce also filled internship and graduate assistant roles at Illinois State University and Frostburg State University.
"I am very humbled to be joining the Forester Family and contributing to the Tradition of Excellence under Jackie Slaats' leadership," began Groce. "I could not be more excited to start this journey in administration under Director of Athletics Nicki Pieart and I am looking forward to working closely with the first-class student-athletes, coaches, staff, and alumni at Lake Forest College."
"I am thrilled that Lou is joining the Forester Athletics team," stated Pieart. "He stood out immediately from a deep and qualified candidate pool as someone who will make an immediate impact on the department. Lou's experience, coupled with his familiarity with Lake Forest College and his vision for marketing Forester Athletics and supporting and enhancing the experience of our student-athletes, really set him apart. I look forward to working alongside Lou and our exceptional staff of administrators and coaches to continue to build upon our rich history of success."
Groce's first official day at the College will be July 15.