Engagement Insider
Debbie Stasolla knows the importance of having a good sense of humor working around the Rider University athletic department.
Stasolla, in her 20th year at the university in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, is the school’s vice president for planning. One of her several responsibilities is overseeing the athletic department and its athletic director, Don Harnum.
“Don’s given me the nickname Miss Daisy,’’ Stasolla says with a laugh in reference to the award-winning movie of the same name starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy. “When we have to go somewhere, he usually drives so it’s become the standing joke that he’s driving Miss Daisy.’’
Stasolla played field hockey and volleyball in high school on Long Island and refereed field hockey after her playing days. She considers herself a sports fan, but not a fanatic. And one of her strengths in her position is letting the people in their jobs do their jobs.
“I don’t like to micromanage,’’ she said. “I think we have good people here at Rider. Don is a very strong athletic director. That’s why I always say I oversee the department. He runs it.’’
Harnum, as the head of Rider’s athletic department, reports to Stasolla as more of a go-between the department and university President Mordechai Rozanski.
“Mostly I’m involved in the budget and personnel and then some issues on the (Metro Atlantic Athletic) conference level,’’ Stasolla said. “I’m the one who deals with unhappy parents. I also get involved if there’s trouble with our student athletes in terms of a suspension, or if they’re not doing well academically. Fortunately, I don’t have to do too much of that.’’
Stasolla does get involved at times in the interviewing process when Harnum and his staff hire a new coach. She was there when the school hired its current baseball coach Barry Davis, which leads to another story where the sense of humor comes into play.
“Barry and I joke about this all the time,’’ Stasolla said. “The day we interviewed him for the job, I was exhausted. There was a shooting at a gas station in my neighborhood the night before and with all the commotion it was hard to sleep. I was up all night. I was yawning during the interview and I kept apologizing to Barry, because it had nothing to do with him. I remember him saying if he got the job, he knew where he wasn’t going to live.’’
Davis, who has had an incredible run with the Rider baseball team, got the job and moved into the same Bucks County, Pa. neighborhood as Stasolla. Fortunately, there haven’t been any more shootings.
When the school hired its new men’s head basketball coach, Kevin Baggett, just before the start of the 2012-13 season, the long-time assistant coach went out of his way to thank Stasolla in his introductory press conference.
“I wasn’t directly involved in Kevin’s hiring,’’ Stasolla said. “But I was very supportive of him. I thought he was the right man for the job. And I thought he more than demonstrated that in his first year.’’
Stasolla has shown in her 20 years at Rider to be the right women for the job as well.
“I like what I do,’’ she said. “I started here at Rider in 1989 and then left for a couple of years in 1993. I came back in 1997 and have been here ever since. It’s been a great place to work.’’