California University of Pennsylvania

With nearly three decades of experience within the athletic department, Dr. Karen Hjerpe is in her ninth year as the Athletic Director at California (PA).

Hjerpe was appointed Athletic Director in February 2014 after serving as the school’s Interim Athletic Director for two-plus years. She joined the Vulcans as the head volleyball coach in 1993 before transitioning to a career in athletic administration. Hjerpe was the Athletic Business Manager for a decade, which included a promotion to Associate Athletic Director in 2003. She held the role of Senior Woman Administrator (SWA) for over 25 years and continues to serve as the department’s compliance officer after assuming the responsibilities in 1995.

As Athletic Director, Hjerpe oversees 18 intercollegiate programs and over 400 student-athletes. She has led a department that captured the 2015 NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball National Championship and nine PSAC Championships in five different sports. Cal also earned its second PSAC Dixon Trophy in 2014 before posting two additional top-three finishes in the standings, which are based on the overall finish of an institution’s athletic programs in conference championships and/or regular-season play.

Hjerpe served as head volleyball coach of the Vulcans from 1993-97 and remains one of just three coaches in program history to earn 100 career victories. She led the program to 27 wins in 1993 behind the play of Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Georgette Crawford, who later spent 11 seasons as a head coach at the NCAA Division I level.

In addition to her responsibilities at Cal, Hjerpe has maintained leadership roles within the PSAC and NCAA throughout her career. She served as the volleyball liaison for the conference for over 20 seasons and was the chair of the PSAC Executive Committee during the 2019-20 academic year. Hjerpe served as chair of the NCAA Division II Volleyball National Committee, while also serving as the committee chair for the Atlantic Region. She was recently appointed to the NCAA Division II Academic Requirements Committee, which is charged with reviewing the division’s academic standards and recommending policy and legislation regarding initial-eligibility, progress-toward-degree and transfer requirements. Hjerpe has been a national facilitator for the NCAA Life Skills (previously CHAMPS/Life Skills) program and the NCAA Division II Leadership Academic Workshop.

Hjerpe has overseen the growth of Cal athletics throughout her career with the addition of swimming, men’s and women’s golf and men’s and women’s indoor track & field programs. She has also been involved in the development of every athletic project over the last 25-plus years, which included renovations to Hamer Hall, construction of the Convocation Center and Philipsburg Soccer Facility and recent renovations to Lilley Field.

A 1991 graduate of Gannon, Hjerpe played volleyball for the Lady Knights from 1987-90 under Gerry Burbules, who held the school record for wins until 2019. Gannon made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 1989 after qualifying for the ECAC Tournament the previous year behind a 34-6 overall record.

Hjerpe was a three-sport athlete at the scholastic level, playing volleyball, basketball and track & field, and was inducted into the Baldwin High School Athletics Hall of Fame.

She has been involved in Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators) for nearly 25 years. Hjerpe has played a role in several of her former graduate assistants creating professional careers in intercollegiate athletics. Chelsey Burk currently serves as Assistant Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer for the Atlantic 10 Conference after stints at William & Mary, as Deputy Athletic Director at William & Mary, and VCU following a tenure as the Athletics Business Manager at Cal. Dr. Wendy Snodgrass has spent nearly two decades with the athletics department at Clarion and was appointed Director of Athletics in 2017.

Hjerpe also has held the roles of assistant and associate professor during her time at Cal. She aided in the development of the sport management curriculum for the online master’s program. Hjerpe has also volunteered with the Renaissance Volleyball Club and Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Gannon in accounting. She later added a pair of master’s degrees from Cal in business (1997) and exercise science and health promotion (2005). Hjerpe also completed a terminal degree in instructional management and leadership at Robert Morris in 2009.

Hjerpe lives in Venetia, Pennsylvania, and is the mother of three children, Todd, Brooke and Erin. Todd is a graduate of Purdue, Brooke is a graduate of John Carroll and played on the volleyball team and Erin is a sophomore at Arizona State.