Keelah Hassion enters her second year as the Assistant Athletic Director for Development. The position is a joint effort between Intercollegiate Athletics and University Development that created a position to focus solely on growth of annual scholarship giving through the Silverback Fund.
Hassion completed her eligibility as an outfielder for the Gorillas softball team in 2023. The Bentonville, Ark., native played from 2019-2023 earning All-MIAA honors during her junior campaign in 2022. During the 2022-23 she also served as President of the Pitt State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She was named the Pitt State Female Student-Athlete of the Year and MIAA Ken B. Jones Award nominee in May of 2022.
Additionally, Hassion has served as a graduate assistant in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics the past two years (2022-23) while pursuing a master's degree in health, human performance and recreation. She was also a Pittsburg State Advancement Ambassador from 2020 to 2022.
In her role, Hassion is responsible for developing and coordinating all components of annual scholarship fundraising efforts for the Silverback Fund.
She is responsible for creating a strategic fundraising plan for the program; and working with athletics staff, head coaches and volunteers in the area of donor relations and ensuring all annual fundraising initiatives are successful. Griffith also helps plan, coordinate and execute the annual PSU Athletics Kickoff Party and Auction fundraising event.
The Silverback Fund was established in 2017 to serve as the catalyst to raise funds specifically for athletic scholarships. Currently, the University invests just over $2M in scholarships. The growth and continued development of the Silverback Fund is critical as overall expenses continue to increase. To continue to operate at a championship level, growth of the Silverback Fund is key. The dollars raised for scholarships will enable current dollars to be invested in other ways. To date, the Silverback Fund has raised just over $1.2 million. Now, with a dedicated staff member, the ultimate goal would be to fully-fund all athletics scholarship expenses through private giving.
Â
