Full Interview

May 17, 2021

Dan Trump greeted me as he’s done for everyone entering campus at the Gatehouse since last summer – with a welcome to Georgetown – and added his appreciation for the chance to talk about his Redeployment experience and a return to a more recognizable campus life.

Dan’s career in college athletics began with his own four years in Golden Bears baseball at the University of California at Berkeley. He entered collegiate athletics immediately after graduation, and eventually joined Georgetown in 2013.  In his current role as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Internal Operations, he manages the areas of academics, compliance, sports medicine, sports performance, and human resources; assists with the internal operations of the department; and serves as department liaison with the offices of the general counsel, admissions, registrar, financial aid and Title IX, as well as the sport administrator for football and baseball. 

Asked how he first became involved with Redeploy, Dan noted with pride that the culture of Hoya Athletics includes “looking out for each other and for our Georgetown.” He recalled the monthly Staff/AAP forums that began in March of last year – and the first considerations and initiatives launched to protect our community’s health and safety.  He said that Lee Reed assembled his leadership team to discuss how Hoya Athletics could help and that their first step was to let the President’s Office know they were ready to volunteer. In short order, Hoya Athletics staff from a range of roles were assisting daily with vendor check-in, one of the first community health interventions.  

“But as the monthly forums continued, and the world and city around us became increasingly isolated, and the financial toll continued to climb – Georgetown announced its Redeployment Program to offset the expense of assuring community health and safety.  Yes, I thought of my own job security, but it really did not make sense to hire other people to assure our community safety if we could do it for ourselves.” 

Dan and other Hoya Athletics’ staff members volunteered for Redeployment, and in September he became a Campus Greeter at the Gatehouse, managing in tandem his part-time Redeploy duties and his regular Hoya Athletics duties. His Redeploy duties included offering assistance, providing information, and – especially in many early situations – turning visitors away from campus if necessary.  

He noted that though his regular duties were unchanged, there were time economies in Zoom and other efficiencies and adaptations that made it possible. And thanks to technology assists from University resources he would not otherwise know, he sometimes handled aspects of his regular job from the Gatehouse. “Success happened,” he observed, “because we decided it would – and we did what needed doing.”  

While Dan happily anticipates a return to “regular” campus life – and likewise, the school life of his children, he reflected gratefully on his Redeploy experience of Georgetown. He noted especially the chance to literally “go to work,” to assist others and have conversations “in person,” to better appreciate the work of the Georgetown vendors, to meet and work with other staff he might never have even met, and to learn a lot more about campus geography and history. 

Dan noted with pride the interdependence of Hoya Athletics and the greater Georgetown community – what is good for either is good for both. He thought that a line from “Crash” in the American movie classic Bull Durham sums up his Redeploy Hoya experience: “I’m just happy to be here. Hope I can help the ball club.”