The Sacramento State community was invited to The WELL to watch presentations from all four candidates for the position of athletic director during the week of Feb. 27.

Students, faculty, and alumni gathered in the Terrace Suite to hear each candidate discuss their plans and goals for success, if selected for the position.

The presentations were approximately 20 minutes in length, as each candidate addressed their personal approach to responsibilities faced by athletic directors, which range from fundraising to staying competitive in athletics and hiring and firing of staff. Afterward, the candidates fielded questions from the attendees.

The candidates are Mark Orr, the athletic director of Saint Mary’s College of California; Brian Wickstrom, the athletic director of the University of Louisiana-Monroe; Mark Massari, the deputy athletic director at Oregon State University; and Solomon Fulp, the executive director of university business partnership and services at UC Berkeley.

Several speakers had connections to either the university or the community. Orr graduated from Christian Brothers High School in Sacramento, Massari played football for the Hornets from 1988 to 1992, and Fulp earned his master’s degree at Sac State after wrestling at the University of the Pacific and Oregon.

While each speaker had a different approach, each candidate placed emphasis on their confidence to establish Sac State athletics as a championship-caliber university.

“The reason I am willing to leave an FBS school to come to an FCS program like Sac State is because I know we can win national championships here,” Wickstrom said.

Fulp — who presented the goals of moving Sac State to the Mountain West Conference in the near future and plans for a new basketball facility — also expressed ambition when it came to the success of the program.

“We are going to be comfortable winning championships,” Fulp said about the culture surrounding athletics on campus.

Each candidate addressed pride in athletics and student engagement at sporting events. With only 1,700 on-campus residents out of a student body that exceeds 30,000, all four speakers encouraged students to become more involved on campus.

Sac State junior wide receiver Isiah Hennie spoke on the importance of an athletic director to help student participation at events, even when teams struggle to win games.

“We as a team have the most fun when there (are) a lot of people at our games,” Hennie said.

Questions from the attendees reached a wide spectrum of talking points. From inquiring on the handling of day-to-day operations to asking the speakers about specific decisions they made in past positions, people at the forum were candid about their concerns and opinions.

Wayne Stokes, a Sacramento resident and Sac State alumnus, attended each presentation and asked each candidate about their employment and fundraising practices.

“I want someone who is confident,” Stokes said about his ideal qualities of an athletic director. “Fundraising is also an important part of this job, so they need to know how to raise funds.”

William Bishop, the director of equal opportunity in Sac State’s human resources department, asked Fulp about sexual assault allegations that have plagued UC Berkeley athletics, and how Fulp would address similar problems if he were to become the new athletic director.

Bishop said he was pleased with Fulp’s zero tolerance attitude when it comes to safety of students.

“This is our university and we are responsible for all of our students,” Bishop said about the importance of an athletic director addressing assault allegations. “The best way to handle it is to address it upfront. To educate, and make sure it never happens again. I got that from (Fulp’s) answer.”

The head athletic position is currently held by interim director John Volek. Following the series of presentations, Sac State is expected to select one of the candidates in the near future.