TITLE IX CHAMPIONS

Former DePaul athletic director Jean Ponsetto’s accomplishments are too numerous to cover. A few include 14 of 15 Blue Demon programs represented in NCAA championships, overseeing the development of numerous athletic facilities projects for DePaul Athletics and 48 new scholarships added for student-athletes—the most academic awards in the Big East Conference for multiple consecutive years.

Chicago-native and DePaul student, Arlene Limas won an Olympic gold medal for the US in the Tae Kwon Do women’s welterweight division at the Summer 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. After winning, she shared with the DePaulia, “It’s nice that the first USA medal was won by a Chicagoan. It shows we aren't the Second City but [we're] the first."

As the senior associate athletics director for academic advising and student-athlete development, Kate O'Brien helps student-athletes maximize their academic potential by mastering the dual pressures of participating in a sport and earning a college degree. When asked how DePaul has shaped her, O'Brien, a third generation Blue Demon said, “I started at DePaul as a young professional not knowing anything about the mission. More than 20 years later, I can't imagine working anywhere else."