Feb. 28, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue Athletic Public Relations Director Jim Vruggink has announced the promotion of DaVida Smith into a permanent position of Assistant Sports Information Director, effective March 1.
Smith came to Purdue last August in a temporary role as Sports Information Assistant, with the possibility of having the job become permanent later in the school year.
"DaVida has done a very nice job for us," says Vruggink. "She demonstrated the ability, attitude and work ethic we were looking for in filling a new full-time position on our staff. She will work as the primary sports information contact for volleyball and tennis and will also work closely with several other sports."
Smith, a 1997 graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., had worked previously as a student assistant in the SID Office at Southern for three years while working on her B.S. Degree in psychology with a minor in mass communications. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
After graduation, Smith became an English, speech and drama teacher at McKinley Middle School in Baton Rouge for the 1998-99 school year. She also volunteered as the cheerleader coach/sponsor, but decided after one year of teaching to return to the sports information field.
The native of Plaguemine, La., had decided to enroll in graduate school at Louisiana State University last August, but the opportunity at Purdue changed those plans. She is currently taking classes in sports management at Purdue in the kinesology department.
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