USW Promotes William Weidner to Vice President for Institutional Development and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
February 4, 2016- The University of the Southwest recently announced the promotion of William
Weidner to the position of Vice President for Institutional Development and Director of
Intercollegiate Athletics. In his expanded role at USW, Weidner will oversee all institutional
development and external relations initiatives for the University. He will also maintain his
ongoing duties and responsibilities as USW’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics including the
vision, organization and direction of an NAIA 15 sport intercollegiate athletic program.
“I am extremely pleased that Bill has agreed to accept this new role and expanded duties”,
stated USW President, Dr. Quint Thurman. “His success with athletic development and the large
representation of student-athletes that comprises our student body suggests to me that he
already has been serving well most all of our students with his fundraising efforts. Expanding his
role to also pursue external support for our personnel and facilities needs that directly benefit
academic priorities will be something I expect he will embrace with the same intensity that I
have seen since I arrived last February. I look forward to working with Bill more closely as we continue to build on recent successes to
ensure that USW remains the institution of higher education that produces the most valuable undergraduate degrees in the state.”
“I am greatly appreciative and humbled of having been granted this opportunity to serve USW in this expanded role”, commented William
Weidner. “USW has shown a significant rise in it’s on campus student enrollment over the past two years and has a vision of continued
growth and success moving forward. The University of the Southwest has firmly established itself as a preeminent faith based, private, four
year Christian University that has built its solid foundation of excellence upon Christian values and a Philosophy of Servant Leadership. I
look forward to working with Dr. Thurman, the USW Community, the City of Hobbs, our Lea County constituencies and beyond with an
unwavering passion to advance the University, its mission and the community that it serves to new heights. It’s a Great Time to be a
Mustang!”
Since his arrival at USW, the Mustang athletic program has laid a solid foundation upon which to build future successes. In just two years
since the start of his tenure, 11 new positions were created and Weidner conducted 15 national searches which led to the hiring of highly
qualified personnel that are committed to establishing USW as a premier athletic program within the Red River Athletic Conference and
the NAIA. The implementation of a Roster Management Strategic Plan led to an institutional record of number of student-athlete signees
which resulted in the highest enrollment of student-athletes in the history of the institution. Under his leadership, USW athletics has also
implemented six new NAIA intercollegiate athletic sport programs and secured state of the art multi-million dollar athletic facility sites for
each of them. In addition, USW’s Bob Moran Soccer Field has received a major facility upgrade with the installation of a new turf playing
field surface, irrigation system, a high end state of the art Daktronics Scoreboard, bleacher seating with a landscaped entrance to the soccer
facility, professional style team bench shelters and other significant renovations. Also of significance in this new era of Mustang Athletics,
a Charter Bus Transportation Partnership Agreement was secured which now provides first class travel amenities for each of USW’s 15 NAIA
intercollegiate athletic sport programs. USW athletics also negotiated an apparel contract agreement with Under Armour to ensure that its
student-athletes are equipped in this regard as well as any athletic program in the nation. While moving forward with its athletic successes
on the field of play, USW student-athletes also excelled in the classroom as the Mustang athletic program most recently earned a cumulative
GPA of 3.01 while featuring 76 RRAC scholar-athletes and 5 NAIA Scholar Teams that gained national recognition for academic excellence.
Prior to his arrival at USW, Weidner served with some of the finest NCAA intercollegiate athletic programs in the nation. His previous
professional endeavors feature over 28 years of experience in NCAA intercollegiate athletics as an administrator and coach including having
served as a Director of Athletics at three NCAA institutions. In addition to his prior role as the Vice President for Advancement and Director
of Athletics at the University of the Southwest, William Weidner has served as the Director of Athletics at Ashland University, the University
of Texas Pan American and Weber State University. He has also held the position of Deputy Athletics Director at the University of Central
Florida and the University of San Francisco. His professional background also includes having been an Assistant Athletic Director at Southern
Methodist University as well as having served on the football coaching staffs at Stanford University, Ohio State University, Murray State
University, Southern Connecticut State University and the University of New Haven.
Weidner graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Springfield College and earned his Master of Arts degree
in Physical Education from Stanford University.