Nationally recognized Auburn assistant athletic director to serve in volunteer role
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — West Virginia native and current Auburnassistant athletic director for media relations Shelly Poe will serve as Media Relations Director for GameChanger in a volunteer capacity. She will begin immediately and attend the GameChanger Prevention Education reception, dinner and golf classic at The Greenbrier Resort on May 24 and 25.
A Morgantown product and a National Merit Scholar at University High, Poe is an honors graduate of the Reed College of Media at West Virginia University. She worked from 1981-2007 in the WVU athletics department, serving as sports information director from 1988-2007. As assistant sports information director, Poe worked with then-sports information director and current GameChanger Executive Director Joe Boczek. She was elevated to the SID position in 1988 when Boczek left to enter the private business sector.
Poe moved to Ohio State in 2007, where she served as director of football media relations, and took her current position at Auburn in 2012. She was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America Hall of Fame in 2006, and served as that 4,000-member organization’s president in 2013-14. In 2021, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Football Writers Association of America and has chaired numerous regional, conference and national committees.
“I am absolutely elated that one of the true giants in the media relations business and a cherished friend is willing to lend her expertise to GameChanger,” Boczek says. “I don’t mind saying that Shelly took on most of the tough assignments the business can dish out and left me with many of the more enjoyable ones. The fact that we have come full circle makes this more pleasing. I would be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank the administration at Auburn for allowing Shelly to serve as a volunteer for GameChanger in such a strategic role.”
Poe, in her 11th year on the staff at Auburn, has been following GameChanger since its inception and says she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to not only rejoin her longtime friend but more importantly to help her home state of West Virginia in one of the biggest challenges to its future prosperity.
“West Virginia is my family home and the impact of the opioid and substance misuse epidemic is staggering, not just today, but for what it erodes of the future. I’m proud that so many good folks are taking part in making a change. Wherever they live, all West Virginians can contribute to helping tame and eventually vanquish this epidemic. Through its growth and demonstrated passion, GameChanger is nationally known for its leadership in helping our young people and I’m glad to do my part.”
GameChanger Chairman of the Board Larry Puccio says it’s very gratifying to see another fellow West Virginian willing to lend their time and talent to help save the lives of our youth.
“Shelly’s record certainly speaks for itself and the fact that she is willing to take on this additional workload as a volunteer to help us save the lives of kids in this state speaks volumes of the kind of person she is. I am so pleased to have her on board.”
GameChanger works directly with schools and communities to implement and monitor student peer leadership programs through its comprehensive and innovative Prevention Education Program developed with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. In addition, its One Pill Can Kill Initiative featuring a 34-minute film has been sent to all middle and high schools throughout West Virginia, Overall, GameChanger programming is designed to educate, support and empower West Virginia’s youth to live healthy, drug free lifestyles while preparing to be our leaders of tomorrow.
To learn more about GameChanger, visit www.gamechangerusa.org
