Rachelle Held Paul

Rachelle Paul enters her fourth year as Director of Athletics at Saint Peter's University in 2022-23. Paul was announced as the 10th Director of Athletics in school history on Oct. 30, 2019. Saint Peter's has had tremendous success in Paul's first three years at the helm of the athletic department.

The 2021-22 academic year saw Saint Peter's finish in third place among all Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) institutions in the Learfield Director's Cup standings. Paul oversaw the remarkable run of the SPU men's basketball team to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. The Peacocks were the first #15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the regional final after knocking off national powerhouses #2 Kentucky, #7 Murray State and #3 Purdue. Paul also oversaw the renovation of the Yanitelli Center with the creation of "Run Baby Run Arena" which opened during the 2021-22 academic year and houses the men's and women's basketball as well as women's volleyball programs. The 21-22 year also saw the men's soccer program earn the #2 seed in the MAAC Tournament, the women's basketball team advance to the MAAC Tournament semifinal for the third straight year and the softball team win over 20 games for the first time since 2007. In the classroom, the Peacocks tied a single-year Graduate Success Rate (GSR) high water mark with 95 percent of student-athletes from the 2014-15 cohort achieving graduation. For her remarkable efforts during the year, Paul became the first SPU athletic director to win the NCAA Division I (Non-Football) Women's Leaders in College Sports Nike Executive of the Year award.

Paul's second year at the helm for Saint Peter's also saw success led by a strong performance from the SPU women's basketball program as the Peacocks advanced to the MAAC Tournament Championship game for the first time since 2002. The men's and women's track and field team also produced a large amount of success, especially at the MAAC Outdoor Championships where they both earned top-six finishes with multiple individual conference champions. The men's soccer team, meanwhile, earned a spot in the MAAC Championship and hosted a first round game for the second straight season. In the classroom, the Peacocks placed 143 student-athletes on the MAAC Academic Honor Roll. Saint Peter's student-athletes a single-year GSR high water mark at 95 percent for the 2013-14 cohort year with eight programs posting a perfect GSR.

During Paul's first academic-year as the leader of the athletic department, Saint Peter's witnessed one the program's best athletic seasons in nearly 30 years, placing second in the MAAC Pepsi Zero Commissioner's Cup Men's Standings at the conclusion of 2019-20. The runner-up finish was the department's second highest outcome in program history behind a first place finish on the men's side in 1993-94 and it was just the seventh top-five placement in the men's circuit since the league began tracking individual men's and women's standings in 1984. Under her guidance, the men's soccer program started the fall off on an incredible high after they went 9-1 in league play to earn their first MAAC regular season title since 2010. The team ultimately reached the league tournament's championship game, which they nearly won before finishing as the league runner-up. The men's basketball squad also produced a historic regular season during the winter and was in the midst of the program's greatest campaign in quite some time before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the early cancelation of the league championship. Men's basketball boasted a 14-6 mark in MAAC play, finishing second in the league standings while tying the program record for most league wins in a season. The team won 11 games at the Yanitelli Center (the most in nearly 30 years), with a program-record nine of them done so in league play. Academically, Saint Peter's placed 161 student-athletes on the 2019-20 MAAC Academic Honor Roll; the highest for the program since placing 119 student-athletes on the team following the 2011-12 academic year.

Possessing more than 15 years of athletic administration experience, Paul joined Saint Peter's after most recently serving as senior associate athletics director, senior woman administrator and deputy Title IX coordinator at Seton Hall University. She was responsible for the leadership and management of all areas of student-athlete development, including the organization and application of a comprehensive NCAA and BIG EAST rules compliance program and the implementation of relevant and effective programming that promotes and enhances the personal growth and development of student-athletes. As a member of the senior leadership team at Seton Hall, Paul participated in all decisions that impact the various operational areas of the athletics department. She and her team were instrumental in the recent transformation of Seton Hall athletics, including multi-million dollar facility renovations, nationally ranked men's and women's basketball programs and unprecedented academic success of student-athletes.

Prior to her work at Seton Hall, Paul held positions at Monmouth University, Canisius College, the Northeast Conference (NEC) and the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). She has served on a number of NCAA, BIG EAST and MAAC professional organizations throughout her career, most recently as chair of the MAAC Women’s Basketball and Women’s Soccer Committees.

Paul graduated from Williamsville East High School in 1999 and Canisius College in 2003 with her bachelor's degree in communications. She then completed her master's degree at Canisius in sport administration in 2005. A four-year letterwinner in women’s lacrosse, she graduated from the program seventh in school history in career points (65), eighth in career goals (49), eighth in career assists (19) and third in career ground balls (133). She also earned two varsity letters as a member of the school's women's soccer team.