Zenger hires Baty, now focus heads to Memorial Stadium

This morning Kansas athletics director Dr. Sheahon Zenger announced Matt Baty would take over as the new director of the Williams Educational Fund and Marketing and Sales. Baty won out over several candidates in a long process before returning to his alma mater.

Baty, a former All Big 12 outfielder for the Jayhawks, will leave his job at the Wichita Sports Forum where oversaw a staff of 85 people. After working for the Big 12 Baty took a position as a marketing coordinator at Kansas Athletics. Following his job at Kansas he moved into an athletic directors role at Wichita State and then the vice president and treasury management of Equity Bank.

Zenger also announced he will begin a national search for a position to help in the renovations at Memorial Stadium. It is expected to be a massive project. Zenger will look to find someone who has been part of raising money for a project of this scope and a proven fund-raiser.

“What this does is allows the WEF staff to continue doing the annual fundraising that they always do,” Zenger said. “They have done so well in the past six years. The numbers have increased every year since I have been here. At the same time that group is responsible for major gifts and they have done a great job with all of the projects.”

Zenger pointed out you don’t replace people like John Hadl, Pat Henderson, Jennifer Berquist, and Greg Gurley. They have been part of a group in the WEF that has been successful and increase fund-raising every year.

In the upcoming years Zenger’s focus will turn to renovating Memorial Stadium.

“I am closing out five years as the athletic director at Kansas and I look back at all of the good things that have happened here,” he said. “But the next five years of my life are about Kansas football and Memorial Stadium.”

Hiring a proven individual who has been part of big projects will assist Zenger throughout the process. Zenger will still be a part of the everyday operations but having another person will help move it along.

“This will be a person who will not have any responsibilities for account management, point system management, or any of the daily duties that the typical fundraisers have,” Zenger said. “This individual can devote all of their energy 24-7 to the football project.

“This does not replace any of my responsibility. It gives me a partner while I may have to turn my attention to personnel matters, student-athletes issues, Big 12 issues, and those things. This person won’t have their attention diverted from the project at hand.”

In the last four years Zenger has helped construct several athletic projects like Rock Chalk Park which includes a new Olympic track and field stadium, softball field, soccer stadium, and currently constructing a new tennis facility. Recently the DeBruce Center and McCarthy Hall were completed. Currently there are renovations going inside Anderson Family Football Complex for a new locker room, player’s lounge, and meeting room.

There have been a lot of improvements in the last four years, but the Memorial Stadium project will be the largest in Zenger’s time at Kansas.

The plans are to post the new position for fund-raising at Memorial Stadium very soon.

“Every day I give thought and energy to the concepts of Memorial Stadium,” Zenger said. “I need a strategic thinker with me whose entire responsibility is to wake up every morning and go to bed every night thinking about Memorial Stadium.”