POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. –Vassar College Director of Athletics & Physical Education Michelle Walsh has announced the promotion of several staff members from within the department before the start of the upcoming academic year, including Kaitlin Leach, Alice Read, Susan Higgins, Blayne Fuke and Bruce Gillman.
 
Leach, who has served as the Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance & Student-Athlete Welfare since joining the department in 2017, has been promoted to Deputy Director of Athletics and Director of Student-Athlete Welfare. In addition to her duties within compliance and sport oversight, Leach has helped to maintain and develop the Vassar RISE (Responsibility. Integrity. Sportsmanship. Excellence.) program, which provides education, support and opportunities to grow physically, mentally, emotionally and social in and out of the competitive environment for Brewers student-athletes. A former two-sport student-athlete, Leach is a 2008 graduate of the College of Mount Saint Vincent, earning a B.S. in Business. She went on to earn her M.S. in Management in December 2010 from the College of Saint Elizabeth.
 
Read has been promoted to Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Performance, having served as Vassar's Head Strength & Conditioning Coach since April of 2018. During her tenure, Read has been instrumental in the development of the Strength & Conditioning program, which has helped expand student-athlete understanding of lifting techniques and education on a team-guided approach, as well as a focus on injury prevention in the varsity weight room. Read earned her B.S. in applied exercise science from University of New England in May of 2012, graduating Cum Laude. She then earned her M.S. from the University of Montana in May of 2016 in health and human performance with a focus on exercise science.
 
The Director of Sports Medicine since the 2013 season, Higgins was promoted to Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Medicine. Responsible for all aspects of student-athlete health care, Higgins and her staff have played a critical role in keeping all Brewers teams healthy throughout the season. She has also headed a number of initiatives related to health education and counseling of student-athletes for all of the Brewers' 29 athletic programs. Higgins earned a Bachelor's degree in Kinesiology with an athletic training emphasis from University of Northern Colorado in 1991, and a master's degree in physical education and sports medicine from Minnesota State University at Mankato in 1998.
 
Fuke, who has amassed over a decade of coaching with the Brewers baseball team, has been promoted to Facilities Associate for the department. In addition to his role as Associate Head Coach for baseball, Fuke has been an integral member of the athletics facilities operations staff since his arrival in 2011. A 2010 graduate of the University of Rochester with a B.A. in economics and correlate in statistics, Fuke was an accomplished four-year starter for the Rochester baseball program. A walk-on to the team in his rookie year, he went on to earn All-Liberty League First and Second Team honors in his career.
 
Walsh has also announced that Gillman, who was elected to the role of Associate Director of Physical Education last fall, will be joining the department's administrative team. Over the past 18 years, Gillman has guided the men's and women's fencing teams to great success, including multiple 20+ winning seasons and numerous NCAA Northeast Regional qualifiers. In the classroom, Gillman has been a respected educator within the Physical Education department, teaching a number of different courses for all students at Vassar.