Simmons University Athletics and Director of Athletics & Recreation Erica Schuling, are pleased to announce the hiring of Kendall Bukuras as the new Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing. Bukuras brings over a decade of experience in athletic communications, media production, and leadership across NCAA Division III to her new role with the Sharks.
Bukuras joins Simmons after a highly impactful tenure at Gordon College, where she joined the Fighting Scots upon graduation from the College in 2014 as an athletic communications graduate assistant and assistant softball coach before being promoted to the Sports Information Director in 2018. In the role as SID, she was in charge of overseeing all facets of athletic communications and publicity for 24 varsity programs. Her responsibilities included web content development and management, statistics, graphic design, social media, video broadcast production, photography, media relations, marketing, and print materials.
"We are delighted to welcome Kendall to the Simmons community," said Schuling. "With more than a decade of experience and a clear passion for supporting student-athletes, she distinguished herself throughout the search process. As a former coach, Kendall brings a unique and valuable perspective to this role. I'm confident that her leadership and talent will elevate our department and strengthen our commitment to excellence."
Under her leadership, Gordon Athletics significantly expanded its communications output across all platforms, especially social media engagement. Bukuras has increased the Scots' instagram following by over 165% and engagement by over 600% during her time promoting the Fighting Scots. During her senior internship at Gordon, she began to launch and implement all livestream productions in 2013 before expanding her repertoire to stream all home events by the fall of 2014 during her graduate assistantship—complete with infographics and commentary. In 2019-20, she supervised and launched a complete website redesign through Sidearm, strengthening the department's brand visibility and fan engagement.
In addition to her communications duties, Bukuras was responsible for hiring, training, and managing a team of student assistants and contributed to campus life as an instructor in both physical education and recreation, sport & wellness courses. She has also served as Interim Senior Woman Administrator and a core member of the Athletic Administrative Leadership Team, where she mentored coaches, supported Title IX efforts, and contributed to strategic planning and branding initiatives.
A former NCAA Division III student-athlete and standout shortstop for the Fighting Scots, she was a four-year starter, two-year captain, and the program's single-season assists record-holder. She ended her collegiate career with a .306 batting average, 310 assists, and multiple leadership honors, including being named Gordon's 2014 Female Presidential Servant Leader.
Her professional excellence has been recognized nationally as she was selected for the inaugural NCAA Division III Emerging Elite Program, received national honors in the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Digital Design Contest, and has remained active in CSC as both a mentor and mentee. She has served on a panel for Divisional Day at CSC (formerly CoSIDA) convention and most recently was a mentor during this past Convention as part of the CSC Student Program.
"I'm incredibly excited and honored to begin this new journey as the Director of Athletic Communications and Marketing at Simmons University," said Bukuras. "I would like to thank Director of Athletics Erica Schuling, as well as the entire search committee for this amazing opportunity. I look forward to elevating the visibility of Simmons Athletics and highlighting the achievements of our standout student-athletes and staff and cannot wait to get started!"
Bukuras obtained her B.S. in Recreation, Sport & Wellness from Gordon College in 2014, and went on to earn her M.S. in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia University Irvine in 2016.
