Brian Eckert, immediate past Region 2 director, became executive director of communications and public affairs at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., as of Nov. 11. He held a similar post at the University of Richmond prior to his latest move and during his two terms as regional director.
He slipped and fell off the roof of his house in Richmond, Va., Nov. 29, sustaining fractures to his skull, eye socket and jaw, and breaking both wrists in several places. Other cosmetic damage was done to his “purdy face,” and he’s had surgery and been recuperating since.
Eckert memorably accepted the Region 2 directorship for his first term in 2009 with a tale of one of his experiences while officiating high school basketball games in some rural school districts, a job not without its hecklers. With his back to the stands and preparing to hand the ball to a player for in-bounding, came a distinct catcall from the bleachers: “You may be purdy, but you can’t officiate for —-!”
Not just a purdy face, Eckert is a real booster for SPJ and active in the Virginia Pro Chapter, as executive director of its scholarship foundation. Anyone with get-better-soon wishes for him can send an email to beckert@wlu.edu. He says he won’t be returning to work on campus until February.