Northwestern University Athletics
Murphy's Mark: A Bittersweet Summer for Northwestern
7/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | General
July 25, 2006
Randy Walker
With the sudden death of Randy Walker, the last two weeks have been very difficult for everyone involved with our athletic program. Randy was a special person, and touched the lives of many people over the years. The outpouring of support from friends and colleagues of Randy's has been tremendous. Per the family's wishes, the Randy Walker Fund was established to benefit Northwestern football. Donations can be sent to: The Randy Walker Fund, 1501 Central St., Evanston, IL, 60208. We are in the process of determining the best way to memorialize Randy in both a permanent way and this season (i.e., patches, field stencils) and will make this information available soon. I have been very proud of the way all of our employees have handled this tragic situation. The funeral service for Randy was truly inspirational and a wonderful tribute to his life. Brad Hurlbut and Jean Yale both deserve special credit for their work in planning the service.
Pat Fitzgerald, Stephanie Erickson
The hiring of Pat Fitzgerald as our head coach has obviously received a lot of publicity. I have great confidence in Pat. He's a natural leader, bright and energetic. I believe that he will be able to bring the players, coaches and community together, and to build on the great legacy that Randy established in our football program. While Pat's hiring has been a major story, the hiring of Stephanie Erickson as our women's soccer coach has not been covered widely. Interestingly, though, the two coaches are very similar. They are both Northwestern alums (they were classmates), had outstanding careers here as student athletes, enjoyed success as assistant coaches here, are relatively young and most importantly, have a passion for Northwestern. Stephanie had great success as a head coach at Harvard last year and will make a very smooth transition to her new position. It will be exciting to follow the progress of our football and women's soccer teams under the leadership of these two new coaches.
Chris Boyer
One of the most rewarding parts of my profession is to see young people mature, develop and move on to better positions. While it is difficult to lose good people, you are happy when they leave for great opportunities. Such was the case with our Associate AD for External Affairs, Chris Boyer, who left last week to become the Senior Associate AD at the University of Maryland, his alma mater. Like Pat and Stephanie, Chris was young when we promoted him to Associate AD two years ago, but he was ready for the challenge and did a great job for us the last two years. We wish Chris the best of luck as he makes the transition to his new position. Chris developed a great love for Northwestern during his time here, and will still be wearing purple.
