Sarah Dehring
ALMA — For nearly 14 years, Sarah Dehring has served Alma College as a coach, athletic administrator and vice president. Now, she’s moving on from athletics and into a new role in the Alma College Advancement Office.
Dehring, originally of Mackinac Island, Mich., this week started a new role as senior director of alumni and family engagement at Alma College. Kiana Verdugo-Maday, who has for five years worked in the athletics office at Alma College, is now interim director of athletics.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to remain at Alma College and serve in this new capacity,” Dehring said. “In my time at Alma College, I’ve had the privilege of working on projects related to alumni and family engagement, and I’m looking forward to digging deeper into that work. The Advancement Office is filled with enthusiastic and driven individuals, and it will be a pleasure to get to know this new team.”
Dehring joined Alma College in 2011 as head volleyball coach. She moved into administration two years later and served as associate athletics director from 2013-19, also serving as senior woman administrator from 2013-20. In 2019, Dehring was named director of athletics, and in 2022, she earned the additional title of vice president.
Under Dehring’s leadership, athletics has grown into a ubiquitous part of the Alma College brand. At a time in which many college and university athletic departments across the country are shrinking, Dehring played a pivotal role in the addition of both the eSports (2018) and women’s wrestling (2022) programs. During this time, the total number of student-athletes at Alma College rose by 25 percent.
Alma’s athletic facilities also saw an upgrade under Dehring’s leadership. The Stone Recreation Center was turned into a home base for the college’s golf program and The Sanctuary was created in order to provide a standalone facility for the college’s dance team. The newly completed Andrus Family Field House serves as an indoor home to track and field, also servicing lacrosse, football, baseball, soccer, softball and a variety of other athletics and non-athletics programs.
Through this growth, under Dehring’s tenure, the individual student-athlete experience has remained top of mind. She was instrumental in bringing the “Helper Helper” volunteer initiative to Alma’s campus, with the Scots coming in as the Division III national leaders in service hours in back-to-back years. Student-athletes at Alma consistently retain through to graduation in high numbers and perform well academically; in 2024, Athletics placed 178 students and 13 teams on the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s honor roll.
Athletics has also seen advances in alumni engagement. The Athletic Hall of Fame has seen exponential growth in recent years, averaging close to 200 people in attendance annually for its induction ceremonies. Athletics has also helped lead the way in fundraising and alumni engagement, through increased gift amounts and number of donors.
“In so many ways over the past 14 years, Sarah Dehring has been the glue holding together different departments on campus — athletics, advancement, academics, and others — that make up the whole of Alma College,” Vice President for Advancement Robert Murray ’88 said. “We’re thrilled that she’s chosen to pursue advancement in this new chapter of her career. She has played a pivotal role in facilitating relationships between Alma College and alumni in her previous roles and has been an excellent fundraiser in support of athletics projects. In this new position, she will continue to be a tremendous asset to Alma College moving forward.”