For Jennifer Dubow ’04, the memories are etched in stone. As a member of the Franklin & Marshall women’s tennis team, she and her teammates took annual spring break trips to compete around the country. There was a journey to San Antonio and one to Virginia Beach. And others to California and Florida.

She recalls the excursions with fondness because they allowed the teammates to bond with each other and improve their game by taking on top-flight competition. And now she helps current student-athletes do the same by supporting the Diplomat Athletic Club.

“I look back and appreciate my time as a student-athlete at F&M, and I want to support that for future F&M students,” Dubow says. “Through my work, I've seen how athletic departments are never fully funded, even though many from the outside would assume that they are. I see all the good work that coaches and administrators do for these young people and want to contribute to F&M being a great place for student-athletes to have an amazing collegiate experience while getting a high-quality education.”

Diplomat Athletic Club Champion

“I look back and appreciate my time as a student-athlete at F&M, and I want to support that for future F&M students,” says Jennifer Dubow ’04.

Dubow is executive director of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), an NCAA Division III league — much like the Centennial Conference in which she competed — composed of academically rigorous institutions. The SCIAC includes California Institute of Technology, California Lutheran University, Chapman University, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College, University of La Verne, Occidental College, Pomona-Pitzer College, University of Redlands and Whittier College. Its office is in Los Angeles.

Dubow held positions with the Colonial States Athletic Conference (in Rosement, Pa.) and the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (in Wexford, Pa.) before landing the SCIAC post in 2016. She says her experience at F&M prepared her for the world of NCAA sports administration.

“F&M showed me the value of a liberal arts education and the role that athletics can play in that,” she explains. “I didn't realize it at the time, but seeing Coach [Patricia] Epps (retired athletic director and head coach) in various administrator roles, showed me it was possible as a female to work my way up in an industry that had been heavily male-dominated.”

What’s the best part of her role?

“Working with other administrators to support Division III athletes who play because they love their sport and want it to be part of their overall academic experience,” she answers.