By Bremen Leak
Val Hale has done a lot for the hometown college scene, and he''s not about to stop.
The former BYU athletic director has been hired by Utah Valley State College to head up a new community relations council that the college will soon put together. The council, intended to deal with controversy over filmmaker Michael Moore''s upcoming campus visit, is one of many projects that Hale will work on as a contractual employee.
'President Sederburg has a number of projects that he has talked about implementing, and so I''m going to be working with him on putting some of those together,' Hale said. 'But we don''t have all the details just yet.'
UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said there are no plans for Hale''s involvement with athletics at this time. What Hale will focus on, said Hall, is creating dialogue between the college and the community, a job for which the longtime local is well-qualified.
'Val is very well connected in the community,' Hall said of the 1981 BYU graduate. 'He knows everyone. He''s grown up here. He was a great asset for BYU and hopefully we''ll be able to make him an asset for UVSC and grow as an institution.'
Hale, who moved to the Provo-Orem area in 1970, had worked as the BYU athletic director for the past five years; his time there ended when the athletic department consolidated last month. In his time with the Cougars, Hale hired key administrators and coaches, including three of the four interim crewmembers that replaced him, and helped enhance revenue and build new facilities. On Hale''s watch, the department racked up a long list of accomplishments:
* It built the Student Athlete Building, the indoor practice facility and Miller Park. It also renovated and renamed several existing facilities.
* It won more conference championships than all other Mountain West schools combined.
* Its volleyball team grabbed multiple NCAA championships. Other sports saw top-ten finishes, two bowl games and several NCAA tournament appearances.
* It dramatically increased ticket revenue 'to the tune of several million dollars a year.' Fundraising, salaries and scholarships increased as well.
* It saw a greater emphasis and better overall results in academics and Honor Code observance. Division I officials awarded BYU student-athletes the Champ''s Life Skills Award of Excellence, awarded to only a handful of schools.
* It initiated a missionary volunteer program, which allows couple missionaries to assist in the athletic program.
* It began construction on the nearly finished Legacy Hall, a showcase for BYU''s athletic history, which Hale believes will be a blessing to the community for years to come.
Having worked with so many people to accomplish so much, Hale said that he is excited about working for his other hometown favorite - UVSC. Its influence, he said, has grown so much since its days as Utah Technical College. Watching the institution gear up for university status is enough to keep him happy in his hometown.
'I''ve been here for 34 years,' Hale said. 'It''s a great place, a great home.'