Dear Bronco Family,
 
This won't be your typical press release you've grown accustomed to here at broncoathletics.com, that's because this warrants something more personal, more heartfelt.
 
No, this was not an assignment or a project that someone above me asked me to do, nor did I ask permission, or run this idea past anyone before posting it. This was something I wanted to do.
 
Stephanie Duke, who has been the lifeblood of Cal Poly Pomona athletics for the last nine-plus years, is moving on to accept a role in upper administration with the athletics department at NCAA Division I UC San Diego, and her last day at CPP is tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 4). She will begin her new post with the Tritons on Monday (Nov. 7).
 
Though she has served as the No. 2-in-charge under the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brian Swanson, both Brian and Stephanie have worked together to create a culture of profound success that has made Cal Poly Pomona an established and nationally-recognized powerhouse in NCAA Division II athletics.
 
But what Stephanie brought to the table in her time here is irreplaceable.
 
Brian said it best: "Stephanie's positive "can do" attitude that she brought to work each day supported our growth as a department and every individual that she touched. We are all better people having had Stephanie on our team the past decade."
 
Since being hired in August of 2013, Stephanie served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director, the Senior Woman Administrator and the Deputy Title IX Coordinator. She supervised seven of our 11 intercollegiate teams, in addition to overseeing the sports performance, communications, marketing, compliance and student services offices within the department. She ensured that athletics was compliant with Title IX, and also served as a support advisor for CPP students and a hearing advisor for the CSU system.
 
Among other duties as assigned.
 
Stephanie did all of that -- and more -- even though there's only 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week. She did it with class, dignity, a positive attitude, and a smile with a whole lot of sarcasm sprinkled in between. Not to mention, she's the mother of two beautiful children. How she found the time for all of her professional hats, endure an awful commute (more on that later), and is still able to raise her children and be the ultimate "softball mom" running the little league park's concession stand on the weekends, it's beyond fathom.
 
When a student-athlete was asked what role Stephanie plays in the department, they were convinced she was just "the lady that walks the hallway every day." It gave us all a good laugh because it's 100% true, but as she walked the hallway -- her shoes clapping against the floor -- she was connecting with the student-athletes, the coaches, the staff members, making sure everyone was doing okay. That's Stephanie. She's selfless, constantly putting others above herself, while continually oiling the monster of a machine her and Brian have constructed together. Not only did she make connections with everyone in athletics, but she also made the time to grow and nurture relationships with departments and individuals across campus that are key to a thriving athletics department, in addition to working with key external constituents off campus, in the community and around the CCAA and NCAA.
 
What many don't know about Stephanie is the fact that she had been commuting from San Diego to Pomona for the last six years. For those scoring at home, that's 180 miles roundtrip and nearly 3-4 hours spent in the car. Every. Single. Day. Obviously COVID changed things the last two years and now we work in semi-hybrid schedules, but in all those years of commuting, Stephanie still managed to do her job better than anyone I know.
 
I asked a handful of individuals that have had the pleasure of working with Stephanie for the last nine years, and so many of them expressed the same sentiment about who she is and what she meant to Cal Poly Pomona and beyond. I have included in the picture gallery below the direct quotes from all the responses I received, but what the SparkNotes version tells us is that she is mutually loved and respected more than anyone I have ever met, and she will be missed greatly.
 
Stephanie hired me during the summer of 2018, and I'm so incredibly thankful for all that she has done for me and my family since I moved to SoCal. She kept me on my toes, made me smile when I didn't want to, stolen half of my sour candy straws, yelled "Happy (insert day of the week here)" down the hallway at me and everyone in the office after sitting in miserable traffic for two hours, and never missed an opportunity to poke fun at my weird quirks. At the same time, she also held me accountable and to a very high standard of work, while continuing to push me to be a better person, a better professional, a better friend, a better co-worker, a better husband, a better father, and I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to work for her.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is a better place because of Stephanie.
 
Since the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year when Stephanie started here, Cal Poly Pomona has gone 42-62-1 against UC San Diego in all team sports that compile win-loss records.
 
UCSD may have moved on to the Division I level now, and CPP won't play them anymore outside of possible scrimmages and exhibitions in the future, but one thing's for certain, you can add another Bronco loss to the Tritons.
 
Best of luck, and thank you for everything, Steph.
 
With love,
Tyler (and the rest of the Bronco family)