Vin Lananna, former Delta Lodge director of athletics and physical education professor at Oberlin College, stepped down from his position in mid-August to pursue a new position at the University of Oregon, where he will have the opportunity to create a development program for elite distance runners from around the nation. Former Sports Information Director Joe Karlgaard has taken over leadership of the department until a permanent replacement can be found.

Lananna has been on the Oberlin College staff since the summer of 2003 and was incredibly influential in his short time here. He drafted a new mission statement for the athletic department, which emphasized improving the quality of athletics as well as improving the community. Lananna also served as the assistant head coach for Team USA’s middle distance and distance runners in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Lananna was very influential to the athletes already at Oberlin, as he served not only as a director, but as a mentor as well. One of Lananna’s future plans for Oberlin was to build a new outdoor track stadium. His absence has cast this project into doubt, although the administration continues to say that it will be built.

Karlgaard is a likely candidate to fill Lananna’s spot, although he isn’t sure when a new permanent athletic director will be named.

“They haven’t opened up the job yet,” he said. “I don’t know enough about what their time frame is other than that they need to have somebody by next academic year. Once the position is posted I’ll think about it.”

Lananna hand-picked Karlgaard to be Sports Information Officer. Karlgaard, at the time, was working on his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

“When Vin announced that he was going to Oregon, our provost solicited input from various people around the department, including myself, and toward the end of July he called me and asked me if I would be willing to serve as acting director,” he said.

When asked about his goals for the department, Karlgaard emphasized working on what Lananna had started. “I think that over the past two years we established some momentum in key areas, particularly varsity team recruiting and reconnection with our alumni base,” he said. “I want to continue along those paths. We need to bring in qualified student athletes who are a good match for Oberlin and reach out to those who have already passed through here. We need to maintain sound fiscal management and adhere to NCAA rules.”

Karlgaard also commented on his respect for the legacy that Lananna left here at Oberlin.

“I think Vin really understood how to operationalize the vision for vibrant athletics and physical education at Oberlin,” he said. “It’s one thing to say that you want to have quality athletics and another to figure out how to get those things done. He provided Oberlin with a great plan to reestablishing quality programs in phys-ed across the board.”

When asked about the future of the new track stadium, Karlgaard expressed some concern, stating, “We’re still working on raising money.”

Fundraising should be difficult without Lananna leading the charge, but the administration is confident that it will still get done.

College President Nancy Dye was also available for comment on Lananna’s departure. When asked if she is looking for a new Division I athletic director, Dye said that past experience in large programs was not a requirement for the position

“There’s absolutely no particular desire to have someone from a large school,” she said. “What we need is someone who likes to take on a challenge, understands Oberlin, cares about Oberlin and is willing help put together a program that works for Oberlin. We weren’t looking for a Division I candidate last time. Vin was a very unusual person to have in the pool and we were very lucky to have him.”

Dye also commented that, although Lananna is gone, the department has to keep on going.

“We continue to think we need to pull up our socks,” she said. “We have a good acting head in Joe Karlgaard. Vin continues to be attached to Oberlin as a special advisor to me. He has a done a remarkable job.”