The UCSD Athletics Department announced the creation of its first ever Athletics Hall of Fame last Monday. The Hall will recognize the department’s finest student athletes, coaches, staff and those who have supported the creation of an Athletics Hall of Fame.
“UC San Diego is still a relatively young institution from an athletic perspective, but given the tremendous success we’ve had, creating a Hall of Fame that would recognize some of those significant accomplishments and the individuals who have meant so much to our history seemed like a natural,” Senior Associate Athletics Director Ken Grosse said to the Guardian. “We’ve been talking about it internally for several years, but the timing seems right, and we’re excited about being able to engage with our alumni athletes through this forum.”
Honorees of the Hall of Fame have not yet been decided and will depend on a nomination process. The nominations will be held for an eight-person inaugural class and will be opened to the public.
Nominations will take place over the next few weeks. The Athletics Department will add the nominees to other names they have already recognized as potential candidates.
The committee will consist of Director of Athletics Earl Edwards and Senior Associate Athletic Directors Ken Grosse and Wendy Taylor May. Other committee members include representatives from the UCSD coaching stage and student athlete alumni. The committee is responsible for narrowing down the list to eight honorees.
The first group of honorees will we announced as part the department’s annual Homecoming Weekend events this coming October.
“This is an exciting time for us as it is another milestone for where we are as an athletics department,” Edwards said in Monday’s announcement. “We have had a relatively short but illustrious history, and the Hall of Fame will allow us to reflect on our past as well as provide another opportunity to engage and honor our alumni athletes.”
UCSD student athletes can be nominated for Hall of Fame induction 10 years after their eligibility to play for the university. In addition, coaches and staff may be considered after three years away from UCSD or 25 consecutive years of service.
Nomination forms are available online in electronic and mail-in form on the UCSD Tritons website. The forms ask for the nominee’s basic information, graduation year, college and sport, as well as an area to describe post-graduate accomplishments and supporting nominee information.
“We’ve been fortunate to have had a phenomenally successful history, and any time you can honor the people who created that history, it helps enhance it even further,” Grosse said. “Additionally, having alumni athletes involved is the kind of thing that really separates the great intercollegiate athletic programs from merely good ones. In recognizing the past and building for the future, the Hall of Fame is a positive in every aspect.”