MOUNT IDA ATHLETIC DIRECTOR RETIRING AFTER 22 YEARS

Written by Marvin Pave
Boston Globe Coorespondent

Jacqueline (Jackie) Palmer, athletic director at Mount Ida College since 1987 who directed the school's transition from the National Junior College Athletic Association to NCAA Division 3, will retire from that position at the end of the school year.

Dr. Palmer, a member of the Concord-Carlisle High School, University of Bridgeport and Mount Ida Athletic Halls of Fame and former commissioner of the North Atlantic Conference, will stay on as director and professor with the Sport Management program at the college's business school.

"Our athletic program is positioned for success regionally and it is time to focus upon the development of the Sport Management program globally and possibly to graduate status. I am most proud of the positive experience that sports has given our student-athletes and by the role athletics has played in the transition of the college from an associate to a baccalaureate degree granting institution in 1998 via NCAA membership,'' said Dr. Palmer, a 1962 graduate of Concord-Carlisle Regional High where she captained three varsity sports. "Our expansion to 15 sports and the involvement of 30 percent of our coed population wearing a Mustang uniform makes me confident and proud about the future of athletics at Mount Ida.''

Mount Ida president Dr. Carol J. Matteson said Dr. Palmer "is the most dynamic and committed athletic director I've ever worked with. She embodies the D-3 philosophy, caring about the student and the athlete and the energy she brings to her job is amazing. In our final football game this year in the rain and cold at Norwich, Jackie was going up and down the sidelines cheering on the team. Bringing Mount Ida into the NCAA and adding football was a great undertaking and achievement for her.''

Dr. Elizabeth True, Vice President for Student Affairs, said the college's athletic center is another testimonial to Dr. Palmer's leadership.

"Her service goes beyond the campus,'' said Dr. True, who noted Dr. Palmer's current role as secretary of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference, which includes Mount Ida as a charter member. Dr. True said that Dr. Palmer, who resides in Acton, will be honored next spring and that a national search will soon be underway for her successor.

"It took years of hard work for Jackie to transition Mount Ida into the NCAA and also an incredible amount of vision,'' said Rico Cabral, assistant athletic director and men's basketball coach of 18 seasons. "She was also responsible for getting league affiliation for our varsity teams, first in the North Atlantic Conference and now in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference, which has been a great fit for us, geographically and academically. And her relationship with our student-athletes, whether finding them their first job or staying in touch with those in the military, has been special.''

Dr. Palmer's stops along the way included serving as field hockey, softball, and basketball coach at the University of Bridgeport in the mid-‘70s and athletic director at Albertus Magnus, located in Hartford, Ct., from 1980-84. At Mount Ida, she has seen 24 championship banners go on the wall and seven teams participate in NCAA tournaments.

"I was an owner and partner in our family's moving and storage business in Concord when I interviewed at Mount Ida,'' said Dr. Palmer, who graduated from the from the University of Bridgeport in 1966 where she was captain of field hockey and basketball and also played varsity tennis. She earned her doctorate in Physical Education from Springfield College in 1981. "It was a chance to realize my goal of becoming a college athletic director again and combine that with my love of teaching.''

Recently retired men's soccer coach Steve D'Arcy was hired by Dr. Palmer to start the program two years after her arrival.

"I was coaching a semi-pro team in Bristol, England,'' D'Arcy recalled, "but I was thinking of coming to the United States. My brother, who was an acupuncturist, was treating someone from the Mount Ida admissions office and before long, I got several calls from Jackie, whose enthusiasm and support before and after I came over made my transition a smooth one. I remember the school's athletic banquet after our second season was held in a dining room with perhaps 30 athletes and three coaches. So we've come a long way and that's a tribute to Jackie.''