CIAA, Sports Information Directors Association achieves milestone, elects all women officers

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and its Sports Information Directors Association (SIDA) recently conducted their biennial election for officer positions, which produced historic results.

CIAA is the only Division II conference with all women SIDA officers and leads Division II with five schools that feature women in the head role of sports information director.

Jolisa Williams of Shaw University and Romanda Noble-Watson of Claflin University were reelected as president and secretary, respectively, while Oralia Washington of Johnson C. Smith University was voted in as the new vice president.

This marks the first time in CIAA history that its SIDA will have all women concurrently serving in each position, becoming the only Division II conference to feature such a distinction in the process.

All three women will serve in their respective roles through the 2021-2022 athletic year.

Additionally, Williams, Noble-Watson, and Washington highlight three of the five women currently serving in the head role of sports information director at CIAA member institutions, a total that also leads all Division II conferences.

“The CIAA and its membership continue to be champions for access and opportunity at every level, which is evident through our leadership structure and throughout the conference,” said Jacqie McWilliams, commissioner of CIAA.

Serving as CIAA-SIDA president since 2017, Jolisa Williams enters her fifth year at Shaw University as the assistant athletic director for media relations. The Charles City, Virginia, native is responsible for coordinating media relations, marketing and social media visibility for all 13 of Shaw’s athletic programs while also spearheading efforts behind the Shaw Bears Sports Network and launching a completely revamped athletics website.

Noble-Watson is in her seventh year as the sports information director at Claflin University and begins her second term as the CIAA-SIDA secretary. She joined the university’s athletic administrative team in 2014 after 17 years at NCAA Division I programs and brings a vast knowledge of communication and promotion.

Washington is currently in her second year at Johnson C. Smith University after spending the previous three years as sports information director at Livingstone College. She is responsible for media coverage, game operations and maintaining statistical information for JCSU’s 15 sports teams and the athletics department.

“We are committed to planting seeds, promoting our women coaches, administrators and student-athletes to seek leadership opportunities throughout the college landscape, and the actions of our Sports Information Directors Association is the latest representation of that commitment,” McWilliams said.

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