MITCHELL — Dakota Wesleyan University has been a big part of Jon Hart’s life.
Essentially half of it.
At 35 years old, Hart has been working in the athletic office for 12 years, including eight as athletic director. He was a student-athlete on the football team and played baseball too. He worked as a sports information intern while he was a student, writing press releases and working on media guides.
Aside from a year working in banking, Hart has been on the DWU campus for the past 16 years. And that substantial chapter will close with the start of 2024, as Hart takes over as the University of Sioux Falls athletic director, taking on a new challenge at a bigger school in a bigger city and in NCAA Division II.
Hart said this week the relationships at Wesleyan are what meant the most to him while working for the Tigers, and that’s the No. 1 item he will emphasize for the remainder of his career.
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“The most rewarding part of the job has been the relationships with student-athletes, with the coaches, with the administrators and the community members,” he said. “That’s going to be the part of the job that I think is going to stay with me the most.”
In many ways, Hart’s time at DWU is emblematic of so many large-scale changes on the campus. Obviously, coaches and student-athletes come and go but DWU has had a large building boom, including athletics adding a new fieldhouse in 2016 that has transformed practices and competitions for a number of sports. The Christen Family Athletic Center has been nearly completely remodeled from the weight room to locker rooms to the gymnasium, and Drake Field has artificial turf for baseball games, making it a truer home field for the Tigers. DWU modernized its logo in 2015, bringing the school’s look into the 21st century, and DWU’s programs have been aggressive with new uniforms and technology changes to keep the interest of student-athletes and supporters.
“The biggest thing is I wish I was going to school at this time rather than when I did go to school earlier just because of all of the cool things we have going on at DWU right now,” Hart said. “That’s no knock on our history and I wouldn’t change any of those memories I have. But just from the standpoint of the resources and the image of Dakota Wesleyan has grown in so many different ways. It’s a place that everyone can be proud of based on the traditions and the community but I think we’ve enhanced that in a lot of ways.”
Growing up in Alexandria, Hart said the main appeal of going to DWU at the time was the chance to play football with some of his colleagues from Hanson High School who were joining the Tigers. He said playing sports at the time was his “livelihood” and getting a scholarship was all he wanted.
“I remember going through the back of my mind wondering if DWU was far enough from home,” he said. “Looking back, that was one of the best decisions I could have made going 12 miles down the road from Alexandria.”
Of course, he’s also had the family element at play. His father, Curt, was athletic director for eight years before Jon and the two worked together every day, while his sister, Amanda, was a talented basketball player for the Tigers, too. Few families get that experience, Jon said.
In addition to the facilities and experience improving, Hart said he’s proudest of the championships, most notably the women’s basketball national championship in 2018 and Kamberlyn Lamer’s indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon national championships in 2019, the latter being more memorable because of the registration fiasco that nearly kept Lamer out of the outdoor championship.
“At this level, you are exposed to a lot of different things that fall on your desk and you’re coming away with a wide set of experiences so being in this role for eight years and 12 years in athletic administration overall, a lot of things have happened and you feel really well prepared for dang-near any scenario you deal with or you know who is going to be able to help you through it,” he said.
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With that, Hart is bullish on the future of the university, which he said is on a much more stable foundation than some other small colleges.
“There’s a handful of small, private colleges out there that are struggling and I don’t think we’re on that end of the spectrum," he said. "We’ve done some great things in terms of enrollment and admissions going and our community supports the university immensely. We have a huge backing in our community. Right now, with the shift in conference alignment, there’s a lot to be said about being in a very stable league in terms of the Great Plains Athletic Conference. There’s comfort in that and I think all signs point to things being successful here under new leadership.”
All in all, there’s mixed personal emotions for Hart with leaving, but he feels leaving DWU is merely a “see you later” situation, considering it’s his alma mater and will remain close to him in many ways.
“I’m looking forward to making this jump and at the same time, I’m going to miss a lot of what’s great about DWU and Mitchell,” Hart said.
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