Editor-in-Chief

CSU Bakersfield hosted the second meet-and-greet session with the director of athletics candidates on Aug. 17, but this time it was China Jude who visited with CSUB staff, faculty and public.

The first meet-and-greet session was on Aug. 12 but with Kenneth Siegfried, who was the interim director of athletics at CSUB this past year.

Jude is currently the assistant vice president and director of athletics at Queens College in New York and has been working there since 2011.

However, this isn’t the first time there has been interest in Jude being the director of athletics at CSUB. In 2010, she was called about the position but that is as far as it went.

Jude said it is a blessing that she is getting another opportunity to be director of athletics at CSUB.

“It’s a humbling experience,” she said. “I really believe that we are positioned for certain things in our creator’s time not our own time, so I truly believe that it was meant for me to be here, to share my experiences and to learn about the institution so I am very humble and grateful.”

Jude earned her bachelor’s in broadcast journalism at Alabama State University. Jude earned a master’s degree in sports management from the United States Sports Academy two years later and she is currently working on her dissertation in athletic administration at Northcentral University in Prescott, Ariz.

Before going to Queens College, Jude was the athletic director for four years at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania.Prior to Cheyney, she was the assistant athletic director at the University of the District of Columbia (2006-2007) and before that at Coppin State University (2001-2005). Additionally, she served as head volleyball coach at those two universities, as well as at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, University of West Florida and at Rollins College.

She explained that she heard about this job and that there was an opening, and then she read about CSUB and was impressed with some of the things CSUB sports have been able to accomplish.

Jude said in her time talking with the search committee and Thomas Wallace she learned a lot about the institution and the expectations they have.

“I definitely learned a lot about the vision and the expectations,” she said. “I learned a lot and hopefully they learned a lot about me and what I can bring to the table in the diverse experience that I have had.”

She added that she really wants athletics to be incorporated with other departments and clubs on campus, and that athletics should not be segregated from them.

“We are a department just like every other department, but it just depends on the strategies we use and that the individuals are connecting with their counterpart. We should not be on an island. That would not be a very healthy environment.”

Jude also said she thinks the best way to get more students, faculty and the public to come to watch more games is for her and the coaches to go out in the community.

“We have to go into their space for them to come into our space.”

She said that it would mean a lot to her if she got the job because it’s an institution that she feels strongly about and very passionate about.