Locatelli: New A.D. 'person of integrity'
By David Wilson
A former executive associate athletic director from the University of California at Berkeley has been appointed to replace Cheryl Levick as Santa Clara's new athletic director.
University President Paul Locatelli, S.J., introduced Dan Coonan as "a person of integrity who will use his vision and talent to take our athletics program to an even higher level of quality" this summer.
Coonan is stepping into a vacancy left by Levick, Santa Clara's first female athletic director, who resigned to take a position at St. Louis University.
Coonan's contract with Santa Clara guarantees him at least six years on staff. He outlined his goals for the athletic department at the press conference.
"Number one is integrity," Coonan said. "I think in who we hire and how we conduct ourselves we will have integrity, no question about it. That is paramount, and number one."
Coonan will be the fifth athletic director to serve after Pat Malley-- who started as athletic director in 1965. Coonan will oversee the school's 17 NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports, picking up where Levick left off.
In her four years at Santa Clara, Levick reorganized the department's staff, oversaw the construction of the basketball arena, was granted a $42.75 million pledge from the school's capital campaign and added nine new scholarships.
Locatelli seems confident that Connan has the right qualifications and experience for this position. A 1984 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Coonan went on to obtain a law degree from Loyola Law School in 1987. He practiced law for five years, going on to become partner with the firm of Makahara and Lane before deciding to pursue a different career.
In 1994, Coonan returned to Notre Dame to serve as the assistant compliance director. He later worked at the University of California, Berkley, handling legal matters as an assistant athletic director.
At Berkley, Coonan helped to unite rivals Cal and Stanford for one fund raiser, which was successful in raising a combined $2.4 million for the two schools.
*Ã Ã Contact David Wilson at (408) 554-4546 or dlwilson@scu.edu.