Associate (B.A. ’62, M.A. ’64)
Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D has seen, and often been directly involved in, the rise of Rattler athletics over the past decades. In person he watched two of the Rattlers’ national championships (1986 NAIA softball, 2001 NCAA baseball). On television he witnessed the men’s basketball team clinch the 1989 NAIA crown, and listened on the radio as the softball team won its second title in 2002.
He’s one of the Rattlers’ biggest fans and one of their top advocates. A former Heartland Conference president, Cotrell has worked diligently at St. Mary’s to ensure the program has first-rate facilities, including the addition of the Alumni Athletics and Convocation Center and the impending completion of a new outdoor sports complex, for which Cotrell led the initiative to seek funding.
“But it’s not just the facilities,” Cotrell says. “It’s the people, and watching the program mature.” And it certainly has under his watch, bringing home four of its six national championships.
The University has enjoyed unprecedented academic success under his leadership as Cotrell, along with coaches, has created an environment that stresses academic success resulting in St. Mary’s student-athletes graduating at a higher percentage than the regular student body.
Recognizing the importance of such academic success, Cotrell is on hand to present many of these awards to the student-athletes, facilitating ceremonies for their academic honors. As fan, advocate and administrator, Cotrell is a Rattler through and through.
Cotrell was president of St. Mary’s University from 1999 until May 2012 and continues to serve his 45 plus years to the University by continuing to teach several St. Mary’s courses.
