Former University of Nevada-Las Vegas athletic director Julio Freire was introduced as the new athletic director for the University of Tennessee at Martin in a press conference held Monday afternoon.
Prior to accepting the AD position at UTM, Freire served as senior associate athletic director at UNLV from 2010 to 2013, where he was heavily involved in fundraising and ticket sales as well as internal operations.
Friere was introduced by committee chair and assistant vice chancellor for student affairs David Belote. Â The conference also included brief speeches by UT Martin Chancellor Tom Rakes and Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Beth DeBauche. Â Dr. John Schommer, the committee’s faculty representative, was also in attendance as a podium guest.
“It was our job to find someone [for the position] that was experienced and credentialed,” Belote said, prior to officially introducing Freire.
Rakes, who had assembled a committee of eighteen faculty, staff, and community representatives to search for the next athletic director in November of 2013, explained the committee’s reasoning behind selecting Freire to become the school’s newest head of athletic operations.
“Julio Freire demonstrates…an understanding of protocol and team spirit necessary for this type of position,” Rakes said.  “He also exhibits a level of energy and understanding how to interact with a whole cross-section of individuals, and relating to coaches and student-athletes and our athletic staff is really a different kind of ballgame than relating to the rest of us.”
DeBauche extended her congratulations toward Freire, and expressed her delight for the  opportunity to work with the new athletic director.  She also personally guaranteed Freire that the OVC would do everything in its power to ensure his success and ability to contribute to the conference.
“It’s the perfect time to be joining the league and I know Julio brings the right energy, excitement, vision, and knowledge to really be a contributor to the future of this fine conference,” DeBauche said.
Freire’s own speech, occupying roughly ten and a half minutes of the 35-minute conference, expressed three main messages regarding his plans for the coming months. Â The first message regarded planning for universal excellence.
“When I had the opportunity to speak with Chancellor Rakes,” Freire said, “I was struck by his vision and plans, in academics, in community involvement, in everything. Â In everything we discussed, I could see a natural comfort level with the concepts of planning and excellence, and that suited me well.
“With this in mind, in 2014, we will embrace that spirit of planning for comprehensive excellence, all in support of the mission of the University of Tennessee at Martin. … With this plan, we will guide and support our student-athletes as they aspire to reach their fullest potential academically, athletically, and socially.”
Freire’s second message concerned UTM’s student-athletes. Â He expressed his desire to provide greater focus on the well being of those students who participate in sporting programs:
“We will embrace high ideals, that a UT Martin student-athlete that should be leaving this great university with a meaningful degree and having been in a position to compete for championships. … As a former student-athlete, I fully understand the trans-formative power of the athletic experience.  I also understand as a former student-athlete [the importance of] full compliance with NCAA, conference, and university rules, regulations, and standards.  It is my intent to have us all represent this institution with the highest degree of integrity at all times.”
Finally, Freire spoke of the importance of meaningfully engaging the Martin community in department proceedings.
“Whether it’s purchasing a ticket to an athletic event, attending an outing, helping us with our fundraising needs, or building facilities, we will invite them all [university leaders, the academic community, alumni, and fans] to be a part of our plans.  During the interview process…I spoke at length about community engagement and I believe that community engagement must extend beyond the campus border, beyond the city limits and beyond the great state of Tennessee.  In short, we will be engaging our community in a meaningful way at unprecedented levels.”
