U SPORTS modifies Board of Directors structure, elects Perrault, Wamsley and White at annual meeting

The composition of the U SPORTS board of directors will change beginning in 2027, after a series of by-laws were adopted at the association’s annual general meeting last week in Newfoundland. 

The Board of Directors will increase from nine to a maximum of eleven elected representatives, including a newly created position for a former student-athlete to complement the existing eight conference class and two at-large positions. To ensure compliance with the Canadian Sports Governance Code, each conference member class is now required to provide nominations in each gender category. 

The application process for the former student-athlete board position will be announced later this year. 

Stephanie White, Dr. Jean-Pierre Perreault and Dr. Kevin Wamsley are the newest members of the U SPORTS board of directors. 

Perreault, named Rector (President) of the Université de Sherbrooke in 2025, becomes the presidential representative for Quebec. He replaces Concordia president Graham Carr, who retired after six years of service on the board, the last 3.5 years as Chair. 

Wamsley, the seventh President & Vice-Chancellor of Nipissing University is the OUA presidential rep. An accomplished academic, he is recognized as one of the world's leading Olympic Games experts and historians. 

White, who was named the athletic director of the University of Windsor in 2022, becomes the athletic director representative from Ontario.  

In addition to the two new members, the U SPORTS members confirmed the re-election of John Olfert (member-at-large), Dr. Karen Murphy of Memorial (Athletic Director / AUS) and Ben Matchett of Calgary (Athletic Director / CW) to new terms. 

The terms of Tim Rahily, Matt McBrine and Denis Prud’homme continue until 2027.  

In other business, the membership approved the probationary membership of Simon Fraser University (SFU) and extended the probationary period for the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQÀC) and the École du Technologie Supérieur (ÉTS) for one year each. UQAC re-entered U SPORTS in 2023, with ETS joining a year later. 

U SPORTS also handed out its annual awards, where honours were bestowed upon four people for their service to university sport in Canada. Dr. W. Jim Weese of Western University took the Lester B. “Mike” Pearson Award; Dr. Joanne MacLean, most recently the President of the University of the Fraser Valley, captured the Austin-Matthews Award; Vickie Croley, who retired in 2025 as the head track and field coach at Western, won the Dr. Jean-Marie de Koninck Award for coaching excellence and Rob Mawhood of St. Catharines, Ontario, won the Fred Sgambati Award for outstanding contribution by a member of the media.  

The 2027 U SPORTS Conference and Annual Meeting is set to be held in Montreal from June 1st to 3rd. 

U SPORTS Board of Directors (listed in alphabetical order)