Assistant Athletic Director of Academic Retention & Services Jill Gerloff delivers the opening speech at her final NGWSD dinner before her retirement. “I love all of my athletes and my women’s teams always show up for me, and I want to make sure that I can do something to show up for them,” Gerloff said. [File photo]

More than 150 female student athletes raised their glasses in unison. They were toasting to themselves—to the increased support, visibility and community being built around female athletes. This toast, a part of Texas Wesleyan’s third annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day Banquet, was becoming a longstanding tradition. 

In part, the student athletes, administrators and alumni gathered in the Martin University Center Ballroom were also toasting to the efforts of one particular woman who’d made it her mission to cultivate the spaces for student athletes to both thrive and be celebrated on and off the field. In her five years at the university and three years as Assistant Athletic Director, Jill Gerloff broke records and built traditions by putting students first.

“My students—they are my why,” Gerloff said. “Anytime someone asks me why I do anything that I do, it is always for the students. Everything is student focused; everything is student driven.” 

Gerloff began at Texas Wesleyan as assistant dean of students in fall 2020. When Athletic Director Ricky Dotson looked to create a full-time role that would act as a liaison between Rams athletics and academic faculty, Gerloff’s advocacy made her a prime candidate.  

“I think she is a voice for the students,” Dotson said. “Above all, I think there’s a trust there because the student athletes know that she has their best interest at heart.” 

Gerloff became the university’s first Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Services & Retention in Jan. 2023. The grant-funded role tasked Gerloff with bridging a growing gap between student athlete success on the field and off the field. Dotson says he entrusted Gerloff with the free creative license to fulfill the role.  

“When I got into the position, I started just researching some things, and it just kind of evolved and became bigger and better than I ever thought it could be,” Gerloff said.  

Gerloff’s first priority was creating spaces to foster student athlete success.  

In her first semester, she established the Student Athlete Study Room alongside mandatory study hour requirements for student athletes who were first-years, transfers or fell below a GPA requirement.

“I want [student athletes] to feel that there is a team here that we are building that is investing in them,” Gerloff said. 

Next, Gerloff took control of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which acts as the representative democratic government that advocates for student athlete concerns directly to university administration.  

As faculty adviser, Gerloff steered SAAC from an informal committee to a structured, solution-oriented administrative arm. Texas Wesleyan alumni Ruby O’Brien, who served as volleyball’s SAAC representative for four years and witnessed the start of Gerloff’s time as faculty adviser, said Gerloff was key for initiating real change.  

“Adding [Gerloff] has been the most impactful change [to SAAC] because she’s providing structure, she’s providing goals that we want to achieve.” O’Brien said. “She can get anything done that you bring to her.”

SAAC representatives continuously advocated for recognition for student athletes outside of athletics. In response, Gerloff established a university chapter of Chi Alpha Sigma, the national student athlete honor society, inducting 50 student athletes in Texas Wesleyan’s first class. Two inductions followed with the 2026 class having the highest GPA yet at 3.81. 

Under Gerloff’s guidance, the Athletic Department saw a record number of student athletes honored for their academic excellence in the Sooner Athletic Conference Commissioner List and Scholar Athlete List.

Before she began as Assistant Athletic Director, the Rams had eight of its teams awarded as Sooner Athletic Conference All-Academic Scholar Teams—teams with an average GPA of 3.0 or higher. Within two years of her tenure, that number doubled to 16 in the 2023-2024 season—a Sooner Athletic Conference record. 

In 2024-2025, Texas Wesleyan led the conference once again for Academic All-SAC Honorees—student athletes with a 3.25 GPA or higher over the prior two semesters—with 217 athletes honored. 

“We continue to raise the bar for our athletes and for our teams, and they continue to exceed it,” Gerloff said.  

Rams coaches say Gerloff’s presence has laid the foundation for athletic success in the field of competition as well. 

“She served students and coaches beyond her title; I would not have been able to make the impact I’ve made on my guys in my first two seasons without her,” Rams basketball head coach Brian Wanamaker said.  

Gerloff’s leadership has seen progress for student athletes in all parts of their journey—on the field, off the field and, most importantly, across the graduation stage. 

In Spring 2025, Texas Wesleyan had its largest student athlete graduating class in its history with 75 current and former Rams athletes walking across the stage.

“My favorite day is always graduation,” Gerloff said. “It’s just such a fantastic thing to witness—whether it’s over two years or four years. Seeing who they become as people is just amazing. I’m proud to be just a small part of that.” 

The results of Gerloff’s unwavering support lie not only in the statistics, but most importantly in the personal stories of the students whose lives she’s changed.  

Senior business and finance major Diogo Stefane, captain of the men’s soccer team, was embarking on his sophomore season when a torn ACL in the team’s first official game ruled him out for several months. 

Gerloff provided him the compassion necessary to endure his recovery.  

“It was really great to talk to her and have someone to listen to me—it was basically what I needed the most,” Stefane said. “I needed someone to give me some guidance, and she helped me a lot.” 

To Stefane, Gerloff represented something far beyond her title.  

“She was a symbol for Texas Wesleyan athletics,” Stefane said. “If you ask anyone, everybody has good things to say about her; everybody’s so grateful for having a human asset like her on campus.” 

When Rams quarterback Cole Francis started his first game of the 2025 season, Gerloff sent him a heartfelt message to congratulate him.  

“She’s been everything for all of us on the football team,” Francis said. “I think we would’ve been in a completely different direction as a school and football without her here.”

Francis, a master’s student in healthcare administration, said Gerloff’s importance is beyond words.  

“I think the impact and footprint [she] left here is unmatched,” Francis said. “It means the world, the support she has given all of us. We’re truly so thankful and words can never fully describe it.” 

Gerloff has been succeeded as Assistant Athletic Director for Academic Services & Retention by Emily Snow. Snow will also replace Gerloff as faculty adviser for Chi Alpha Sigma and SAAC.  

Upon reflection, Gerloff hopes to have left a legacy that inspires others.  

“The students who were here while I was here will remember the things that were done for them and hopefully they will pay it forward,” Gerloff said. “If they just remember that someone once invested in them and they go out and invest in others—I think, would probably be the thing that made me the most proud, if I could have that be a legacy.”