“I was extremely impressed with the growth in the Rio Grande Valley and the university. The people are phenomenal. The metropolitan area is about 1.3 million and the university has about 30,000 students and projected to grow over the next 7 to 10 years. It’s an exciting opportunity.” – Chasse Conque, New UTRGV Director of Athletics
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley has hired Chasse Conque as its new Vice President and Director of Athletics. An official start date has not been set yet, but Conque hopes to start by Sept. 1, however, he’s already taken the pulse of his new department. He met with a variety of students, faculty, staff, alumni and other community leaders during his visit.
“Over the course of my interview, I was down there for three days. I met with everyone, and it really gives you a sense of how they work together. After the announcement this morning, I immediately called the head coaches and staff. The job really begins now.”
As part of the UTRGV hiring process, Conque was given a tour of the Valley to see firsthand the university’s expanding footprint, including visits to the Edinburg, Harlingen, and Brownsville campuses. He says one of the things he wants to accomplish right from the get-go is uniting the valley.
“The university itself is really a brand-new campus. Under the Rio Grande Valley umbrella, there are campuses Edinburg, Harlingen, and Brownsville. I took a drive in the valley and really got a lay of the land, the pride, the culture. Uniting those campuses is key,” he explained.
Conque hopes to build upon the success of the Athletic Director and staff that has come before him.
“Chris King has done such a great job over the past 10 years as AD. It’s really a testament to his leadership that so many qualified applicants wanted this post; I feel fortunate to be the one that gets to build on the success he created.”
Conque has served as Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock since 2015. During Conque’s tenure at Little Rock, he helped lead a resurgence of the athletic department. Little Rock won a combined 19 team and individual Sun Belt Conference championships, highlighted by both the men’s and women’s basketball teams reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament.
This story first appeared in The NightCap, CollegeAD’s evening newsletter. The NightCap delivers the day’s college athletics news in simple bullet points, giving you what you need to know in just a few lines. Get The NightCap today.