Tiger Talk Blog

Matt Higgins
Sports Information Director/Director of Internal Affairs
University of Minnesota ’03
mahiggin@dwu.edu
605-995-2854

Matt Higgins is entering his second year as Dakota Wesleyan University’s sports information director and the athletic department’s director of internal affairs.

Higgins took over as the Tiger SID in June 2008. His responsibilities at DWU include promotion of all 15 DWU intercollegiate sports, writing for the Tiger athletic Web site, production of athletic publications, media relations, statistical record keeping, and promotion of student-athletes and coaches for conference and national honors. He also maintains a Tiger Talk sports blog and is a contributing writer to Wesleyan Today, DWU’s alumni magazine. Higgins was awarded ninth place in the 2008-09 Dr. W. Jack Bell Writing Contest for his review of the Tiger men’s basketball season.

As the athletic department’s director of internal affairs, Higgins deals with compliance, eligibility, Title IX and reporting. He also serves on the athletic department’s leadership team and is involved with the DWU TeamMakers booster club.

Before coming to DWU, Higgins spent a year as the sports editor at the Mitchell Daily Republic, where he served as the main beat writer for Tiger athletics and oversaw all aspects of the production of the paper’s sports section. Before moving to Mitchell, he spent two years as the sports editor at the Stillwater Courier newspaper in Stillwater, Minn., an east metro suburb of the Twin Cities. During his time at the Stillwater Courier, Higgins received numerous honors from the Minnesota Newspaper Association, including Best Columnist and Best Sports Reporting.

A Park Falls, Wis., native, Higgins graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) in May 2003.

Marlene Warnke
Athletic Business Manager
Dakota Wesleyan University ’95
mawarnke@dwu.edu
605-995-2112

Marlene Warnke has been a dedicated Dakota Wesleyan University employee since 1990, and since 2005 she has been an invaluable member of the Tiger athletic department as the athletic business manager.

Warnke has numerous duties that are essential to the business operations of the athletic department. She handles the balancing of all team and department operational budgets, is a member of the department’s leadership team and assists with nearly everything else with Tiger athletics – from letters of intent to travel schedules to fundraising and everything in between. Warnke’s work ethic and knowledge off all things in Tiger athletics are vital to the overall success of the department.

In 2008-09, Warnke was honored for her efforts with the DWU Professional Excellence Award for the second quarter. She also received DWU Professional Excellence Awards in 2002 and 1995, and in 1996-97 she received the DWU Presidential Award for Outstanding Service. She was also inducted in the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Gamma Mu organizations in 1995.

Warnke began at DWU in 1990 as the faculty secretary and assistant science fair director. In 1999, she was promoted to the administrative assistant to the vice president for campus life position, and she took over her current post as the athletic business manager in 2005.

Currently, Warnke is working to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a minor in business at DWU. She received an Associates of Art degree from DWU in 1995 and also holds a degree from Mitchell Technical Institute.

Warnke is involved in numerous committees and organizations, both at DWU and in the community. She serves on the Housing Affairs Committee, the Athletic Advisory Committee, the Staff Relations Committee, the Furniture and Selection Committee, and she has been a member of numerous search committees at Dakota Wesleyan. Previously, Warnke was a member and a board member of the South Dakota College Personnel Association, and she was a member of the DWU Employee Recognition Committee.

Since 2005, Warnke has been a member of the Heart & Sole Cancer Walk/Run Committee, and in 2008 she was an honorary cochairman of the event.

Warnke lives in nearby Alexandria, S.D.