Gilles Lépine named UBC senior athletics director
Experience includes organizing 4 Vanier Cups, 12 years as Director of Excellence at Laval University
New UBC senior athletics director Gilles Lépine thinks tapping into Vancouver's corporate community is key to turning UBC into a university sports juggernaut.
"Here in Vancouver the potential is incredible with business," said Lépine after being introduced on the Point Grey campus.
Lépine joins UBC after a 12-year tenure as Director of Excellence at Laval University in Quebec City.
His resumé includes organizing four Vanier Cup Canadian university football championships, including last year's game which was held at Laval and won by UBC.
In fact, the 2015 Vanier Cup is where UBC board of governor and football alumni Dave Sidoo first started pursuing Lépine for the job.
UBC hopes to host a Vanier Cup in the near future.
Lépine said he will also focus on bringing more alumni support and funding for the 24 varsity teams.
"Alumni will help us if they trust the system," he said. "To trust the system...I promise them we'll take care of academics, we'll take care of ethics. And when we host events they'll be great. And we'll perform too."