Manhattan College Appoints Irma Garcia as Interim Director of Athletics
Garcia served as the assistant vice president and director of athletics at St. Francis College (Brooklyn) since 2007.
Irma Garcia, a veteran intercollegiate athletics administrator, has been appointed the interim director of athletics at Manhattan College, Manhattan President Brother Daniel Gardner announced today. Garcia will begin immediately. 
Garcia joins Manhattan College after serving as the assistant vice president and director of athletics at St. Francis College (Brooklyn) since 2007, during which she led the Terriers to record-setting Northeast Conference (NEC) championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. She is widely recognized as the first Latina to ever lead a NCAA Division I athletics program.
Under Garcia’s leadership, the St. Francis Department of Athletics expanded administrative and coaching staffs to support the continuing needs of student-athletes and added both Women’s Soccer and Men’s Volleyball. The Terrier Men’s Soccer team captured five Northeast Conference championship titles from 2013-2020 and the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams have consistently been nationally ranked. Under Garcia’s leadership, the Department of Athletics continually exceeded fundraising goals through individual and capital campaigns which led to various facility upgrades, a state-of-the-art student-athlete fueling station and increased support for student-athlete health and wellness. Most recently, Garcia secured 17 facility partnerships across all of the New York City boroughs to ensure St. Francis student-athletes had the proper spaces to train, compete and thrive during the College’s relocation.
Prior to assuming the Director of Athletics position, Garcia was an Associate Athletics Director at St. Francis and served as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach for eleven seasons, honored as the 1998 NEC Coach of the Year. Garcia received the 2015-16 Division 1-AAA Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award and was named NACWAA D1 (FCS) Administrator of the Year for the 2014–15 academic year. Already a pioneer for women’s athletics on many fronts, Garcia became the first former women’s player/coach to ever be inducted into the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame and was also honored with the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Distinguished Service Award.
Garcia is actively involved at the local and national levels, including serving as a member of the Division I Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee, as a prominent leader within Women Leaders in College Sports and in leadership roles with NACDA, MOAA, HACU and PSAL.
The Manhattan College community is delighted to give a warm welcome to Irma Garcia!