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Don Owen: When Jane Meier resigned at NKU, leakers and moles dripped in dehydration


Leaks. It’s a word that causes every media relations director to frown when preparing for a big announcement. And it’s impossible to contain the message if a well-placed mole discovers the information prior to release date.

L-E-A-K-S. Five letters that normally ruin the best laid plans of sports information directors across the United States. An insider found out the coach is being fired. A big-time booster heard the best player is transferring. Someone across campus learned about that party in which several players were arrested.

Just try and control all of those leaks. It’s impossible.

But exactly 11 years ago today, Northern Kentucky University outfoxed all the various on-campus moles and leakers. That’s the afternoon Jane Meier announced her resignation as NKU’s athletic director. Only a few of us knew. As the SID, I’d been made privy to the information several days earlier.

Shown above is part of the specialty publication designed to announce Jane Meier’s resignation as NKU athletic director.

My job was to gather quotes, write the release, design a specialty publication to commemorate Jane’s iconic career and then deal with the media. I’d also been told that under no circumstance should this announcement surface anywhere until that Friday (April 3, 2009) around 1 p.m.

Having been victimized several times in the past by leaks just before big announcements or press conferences, I gently reminded those in authority that I couldn’t control the message if too many people are aware. Person A will tell Person B, who will then alert Person C, and all of a sudden it ends up leaked to the media.

I was assured only five or six people knew, two of whom were Jane and me. Jane’s husband, Steve, was also in the loop. The other two — NKU President Dr. James Votruba and Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Zebulun Davenport — certainly weren’t going to leak anything. But if anyone else was in the loop…L-E-A-K-S.

Twitter was just in its infancy, so we didn’t have to worry about that social media platform. I monitored Facebook and a few chat rooms for several days, but nothing surfaced. Unlike several press conferences in the past that were torpedoed by untimely leaks, it appeared the Jane Meier resignation announcement — which would be done with an electronic release, no press conference — would dodge the ever-present moles.

Then, on Thursday night, just about 14 hours until the release would be sent, two assistant basketball coaches visited my office. I could tell by their expressions they had something important to tell me. My blood pressure suddenly soared after one of the coaches said, “You hear the news?”

I shook my head and fearfully awaited the answer. They actually had found out, I assumed.

Instead, one of the coaches told me a certain school in the Great Lakes Valley Conference might be in big trouble with the NCAA. He said it was all over the recruiting circuit and the head coach of that particular program might even be fired because of it.

Jane Meier’s career at NKU included a successful stint as volleyball head coach. Meier’s 1979 NKU volleyball squad defeated Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.

After letting out an extended sigh of relief, I laughed and made sure that was the only news. They knew nothing of Jane’s impending resignation.

The television newscasts at 11 p.m. didn’t have it. Not a word about NKU. When the clock reached midnight, I scanned the chat rooms and Facebook sites. Nothing. Everything was dry. No leaks. Most NKU chatter involved basketball recruiting. Jane Meier’s name was never mentioned.

On April 3, 2009, at 1:17 p.m., I emailed the release to the media. I followed that up a minute later with an email to the SIDs around the GLVC. I wondered how long it would take for my office phone to ring. In the middle of that thought, it began ringing. So did my cell phone. My email inbox blew up with replies. This continued non-stop the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

My office set up one-on-one interviews for Jane with several television stations that evening. But no one had a scoop. We actually controlled this message.

For once, the leaks had been defeated. And the moles were dripping in absolute dehydration.

Just in case you didn’t know:

• Under Jane Meier’s watch as athletic director, NKU won 61 Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season or tournament championships. Before Meier became athletic director 1988, NKU had a total of 17 NCAA Tournament appearances.

After Meier’s arrival as athletic director, NKU made 76 NCAA Tournament appearances. Included in that total are 13 trips to the NCAA Division II Final Four. Under Meier’s leadership, NKU also won two NCAA Division II national championships and captured 20 regional titles.

Meier also oversaw the NKU basketball programs’ transition from Regents Hall into The Bank of Kentucky Center (now BB&T Arena). NKU opened the 9,400-seat, state-of-the-art facility with an exhibition basketball doubleheader against the University of Louisville on Nov. 8, 2008.

Two other NKU athletics facilities – The Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field and The Joyce Yeager Tennis Complex – were also built on campus during Meier’s tenure. Plus, during her coaching career, Meier led NKU’s volleyball team to the university’s first-ever GLVC championship in 1985.


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