Athletic Administration Takes On New Assignments
Monica Cundiff, Beth Hunter, Maureen McNamara and Kara O’Leary add new responsibilities to their duties.

March 18, 2003

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Monica Cundiff, Beth Hunter, Maureen McNamara and Kara O’Leary all will be taking on new assignments within the administrative ranks of the University of Notre Dame athletic department.

Cundiff, now in her fifth year as a sports promotion coordinator, becomes director of Joyce Center events/sports promotions. She will assume many of the duties of current Joyce Center programs manager Joe Sassano, who will retire effective March 15.

Cundiff will oversee all non-athletic events scheduled in the Joyce Center – in addition to maintaining some of her previous promotions responsibilities.

Hunter, in her second year as a sports promotion coordinator, inherits additional promotional duties based on Cundiff’s changing role. Hunter, who works primarily with volleyball and hockey, will handle promotions for the spring sports that Cundiff previously handled.

McNamara moves into the role of director of athletics community relations, in which she will work closely with associate athletic director of external affairs Jim Phillips. McNamara previously worked closely with the Notre Dame summer camp program and dealt with football corporate hospitality with NBC Sports and other clients as manager of camps and corporate events.

O’Leary, currently assistant director of recreation facilities for the RecSports department, adds the title of director of sports camps. She inherits responsibility for overseeing the summer camp programs from McNamara.

Sassano has been part of the Joyce Center management since the building opened in 1968. He previously spent nine years as head football coach at Weber High School in Chicago, winning two Catholic League titles. He’s a 1955 Notre Dame graduate who also earned a master’s degree from Notre Dame in 1959.

Cundiff is a 1992 University of Illinois graduate (she earned a master’s degree from Illinois State in 1997) who came to Notre Dame in 1997. She’s originally from Peoria, Ill.

Hunter is a 1998 Providence graduate who’s originally from Shrewsbury, Mass. She earned a master’s degree in business from Providence as well and spent a year working in promotions and licensing at the University of Northern Colorado before coming to Notre Dame.

McNamara is a former assistant women’s tennis coach (1990-97) at Notre Dame. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, she was employed by Xerox Corporation and Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. She’s a 1984 graduate of the University of Illinois – and she earned a master’s degree from Notre Dame in 1996. Like Cundiff, she’s a Peoria, Ill., native.

O’Leary has been with the Notre Dame RecSports staff since 1993 after joining the University in 1990. She’s a 1989 Saint Mary’s College graduate who earned master’s degrees from Valparaiso in 1991 and Notre Dame in 2000. She’s originally from Lawton, Okla.