Grambling State University Athletic Director Paul Bryant is determined to improve an athletics program built on the school’s rich sports legacy, and he’s made an important hire to improve marketing.
Bryant has hired Karen M. Carty as the assistant athletics director for marketing and communications, effective Monday (April 10).
“This is an important hire for Grambling State and athletics,” said Bryant. “This school and this program deserve a first-class marketing professional, and I assure you that Karen is a first-class marketing professional. Our students, alums and others will see the difference she makes in short order.”
“I’m extremely excited to become a part of the Grambling State athletics family,” said Carty. “Grambling has a rich history and tradition of winning and I’m ready to do my best to promote the Grambling athletics brand. It will also be great working with Mr. Bryant again.”
Carty joins GSU from her position as director of marketing in the South Carolina State University athletics department, where she worked with Bryant from 2014-2017 when he was athletics director at the Orangeburg, South Carolina, institution. At South Carolina, she handled all aspects of athletics marketing as well as media relations for volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s basketball and softball.
Carty has a reputation for using digital and social media marketing resources and tools. Leading into the 2015 football season, she used a digital marketing campaign to increase average attendance by 5,000 fans per game, helping S.C. State lead the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in average attendance (15,629) in 2015 and rank 10th in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
She helped enhance the overall fan experience at S.C. State athletic events by partnering closely with the game operations committee to ensure everything from the ticket-taking experience to the experiences at concession stands and during the game were enjoyable for the fans. For her efforts during the 2015-16 year, Carty was named the S.C. State Staff Employee of the Year, in addition to being the Staff Employee of the Year for the Division of Athletics.
Carty spent three and a half years as the sports information director at Baltimore City Community College in Maryland. She was responsible for handling media relations efforts for BCCC’s six sports, including media guide production, game-day statistics, record keeping and the athletics website. Prior to BCCC, Carty worked in the sports information office at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, from 2004-2010, including three years as assistant sports information director.
Carty graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in general business with an emphasis in marketing in 2004 from Norfolk State, where she was a member of the women’s tennis team. A St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, native, she earned a master’s degree in sports management from the United States Sports Academy in Daphne, Alabama, in 2009. She is a member of the National Association of College Marketing Administrators (NACMA).
Courtesy: GSU Media Bureau
