VGCC Names New Director of Athletics & Student Activities

Jasmine Hightower of Warrenton has been named the director of student activities and athletics at Vance-Granville Community College. Hightower (pictured above), who started her new post Feb. 18, will oversee clubs and extracurricular activities that engage students on campus, as well as the college’s growing intercollegiate athletics program. VGCC, which joined the National Junior College Athletic Association in 2008, has already introduced men’s basketball and golf teams. Plans are underway for a women’s volleyball team, and the college is searching for a coach. Hightower said that the college may pursue other sports in the future.

“Jasmine is an outstanding addition to Student Affairs and the College,” VGCC Vice President of Student Affairs Gene Purvis said. “I look forward to the contributions that she will make, and the various programs that she will make available to our students.”

A native of Connecticut, Hightower attended Warren County High School before being admitted to the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. She earned a bachelor’s in journalism and mass communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was also a manager for the women’s basketball team. Hightower later earned a master’s in sport management at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and a master’s in business administration with a concentration in marketing at Indiana University-Bloomington. While a UMass student, Hightower was an intern at the National Collegiate Athletic Association. She has lived all over the country, working in sports and marketing positions for organizations including the Harlem Globetrotters, the Women’s Sports Foundation, the University of California-Santa Cruz athletics department and, most recently, Whirlpool Corporation, where she was a category manager.

Schedules and other information concerning VGCC athletics are available on the college web site ( http://vgcc.springerstudios.net/Athletics ).