This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter issue of Panorama magazine. Created to inform, invite and involve our extended university community, Panorama shares campus resources with the community at-large.

If you've been to a basketball game at Kellogg Gym, you know that the student section can create quite a bit of noise. If you want the true pulse of how the Broncos are playing, though, watch the No. 1 fans: President Michael Ortiz and his wife, Betty.
 
Kellogg Gym has produced plenty of victories, with the Cal Poly Pomona basketball teams winning 82 percent of their home games in the last five years. Win or lose, you'll see Betty waving her Broncos flag and President Ortiz clapping and encouraging the student-athletes.
 
"Betty is the aggressive one," Ortiz says, smiling and holding back laughter. "I try to be a little more subtle and reserved. Not Betty. She's up and down, running around with her flag. She's cheering, hollering at the athletes. I clap and cheer, too, but she's probably the one demonstrating most of the energy. I have the internal energy, but there's a certain level of behavior that you expect out of a president."
 
In a separate interview, Betty offers another perspective. "When he sees the officials not doing their jobs, he'll voice his disappointment. Sometimes, I'm the one who has to tell him to quiet down."
 
The role of a president requires a full schedule of committees and meetings, but when President Ortiz and Betty can break free for a few hours, they love to cheer on the Broncos. Passionate and dedicated sports fans, the couple recognize the synergy that exists within intercollegiate athletics.
 
"Even though we've had star student-athletes who receive national attention, we seldom have a team that focuses on one player," Ortiz says. "All of our coaches seem to have a very focused team approach to what they do. Even the great athletes make the pass and do what it takes to win as opposed to going for the shot and the glory. That demonstrates how our coaches work with our student-athletes and what it means to be a team."
 
In recounting the best sports memories during his tenure at Cal Poly Pomona, Ortiz points to the 2010 men's basketball national title as the top highlight. After falling in overtime to Findlay in the 2009 championship game, the Broncos returned for redemption the next year and topped Indiana (Pa.), 65-53, to capture the NCAA Division II national crown.
 
"Many university presidents go through their entire career and never have that kind of experience in terms of sports," Ortiz says. "So the fact that it happened while I was here is very special."
 
The drastic shift from heartbreak in 2009 to jubilation in 2010 wasn't unfamiliar to Ortiz, who learned the ups and down of sports while growing up in the small town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.
 
He started on the baseball diamond, competing in the local Little League. He attended Carrizozo High School, which offered just three sports: football, basketball and track and field. As one of five children in his family, Ortiz followed the path of his older brother and played football while running track to stay in shape for the fall.
 
"We had 150 people in our high school; 77 of them were male and 76 of them went out for the football team," he says. "Oddly enough, the only person who didn't go out for football was a 6-foot-3, 240-pound kid who played tuba in the band."
 
During his freshman year, the football team lost in the playoffs. The program's fortunes quickly rose and Ortiz helped guide Carrizozo to state championships in three consecutive seasons. As a quarterback and linebacker, he received All-State honors on offense and defense.
 
Ortiz went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of New Mexico. Later, he received a doctoral degree at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. UNC is, of course, the natural rival to Duke, which the Cal Poly Pomona men's basketball team faced in an exhibition game in November 2010.
 
The passionate support from both President Ortiz and Betty certainly doesn't go unnoticed. They know the student-athletes, coaches and staff by name, and make them feel right at home.
 
"It's been very special to coach here with President Ortiz leading the university," men's basketball head coach Greg Kamansky says. "It's not just because he and his wife are basketball fans and sports fans in general. It's because they are amazing people. I'm glad that we were able to win the national title when we did so that President Ortiz and his wife could enjoy it. You could tell that they enjoyed that championship as much as our team enjoyed it."
 
In his final out-of-state athletics trip as university president, Ortiz spent a few days in March supporting the women's basketball team at the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Erie, Pennsylvania. The team visited a local school early in the week as part of community service and held a pep rally. The next day, the new fans returned the favor and cheered on the Broncos at the game.
 
The youngsters put on Bronco spirit hair and filled almost an entire section of the stands, jumping around and getting loud. In the middle of the section of schoolchildren stood President Ortiz and Betty, leading the crowd to rally the Broncos to another victory.
 
"They're not only the No. 1 fans," says Ariel Marsh, women's basketball student-athlete. "They're part of the Bronco Athletics family. We can always count on them for support."