Lyke’s athletic


endeavors these days include triathlons. She goes for a run every day except Christmas as a way to relax from the stress of big-time athletics and raising a family (she and husband David Catalano have two daughters and a son). She particularly likes to run the steps of the stadium whenever she visits another college campus. She has run in more than 75 stadi- ums around the coun- try and is good at talk- ing her way into the ones that are locked or supposedly off limits to the public.


varsity egiate


9 s t


1 2


features The program employs more than nt sports, 70


full-time staff and supports more than


ams and * 500 student-athletes s teams Eastern | FALL 2013 9 ** 1960


Every summer Olympics since


has had an Eastern Michigan representative “You’re a product


of this environment. You’re a product of the academic


expectations that are placed upon


you, and the athletic expectations ... the expectations as a person and (for


the university) you represent.”


—Heather Lyke


“I like to run around


a college campus. You get a feel for it. You see cleanliness. You see at- tention to detail. You see branding. You see visual images. You see how bikes are stacked. You see how facilities are maintained; mainte- nance is a big thing. I’m a detail person; if things are not in order, I get bothered.” Lyke is the fi rst


woman to lead EMU’s athletic department, and is one of only six female athletic directors


among the 120 Division I-A universities. “I don’t know what value to place on that right


now, but I really feel fortunate to be able to have that opportunity because I know so many people who have helped me—men and women,” Lyke says. She cites numerous mentors who helped her as a student-ath- lete and as a beginning athletic administra- tor. Now, she says, her new job will allow her to return the favor for others. But for now her focus is on implement-


ing and communicating her vision across EMU’s athletic department and campus. “T e reason why I took the job is not


only President Martin’s belief in me, but my belief in her and what we can accomplish to- gether. I spent a lot of time with her because that relationship is essential to our success. I really connected well with her, as well as the EMU community. I felt like people were hungry for vision and leadership and the


opportunity to make a diff erence.” 3 —Lynn Monson


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