TOWSON, Md.- The Towson University athletics department welcomed colleagues from across the region to SECU Arena on Thursday, April 23 for the inaugural Baltimore D1 Summit. The gathering brought together over 60 representatives from Coppin State, Johns Hopkins, Loyola, Morgan State, Mount St. Mary's, UMBC  and Towson.
 
The day focused on collaboration - sharing experiences and learning from one another while building relationships.
 
"Professional development is important for an athletics department," said Towson Vice President of Athletics Steve Eigenbrot. "(Towson men's basketball coach) Pat Skerry loves to say you can't change your history, you can't change your geography. We have some cool geography around here with a bunch of D1 schools in Baltimore. This was an opportunity to get together and share ideas an learn from one another."
 
The day started with a head coach panel featuring Skerry, Candice Hill (UMBC - women's basketball), Damon Wilson (Morgan - football) and Liis Abbott (Mount St. Mary's – women's soccer) then moved to an AD Swap where Dena Freeman-Patton (Morgan), Tiffany Tucker (UMBC), Derek Carter (Coppin) and Eigenbrot led sessions focusing on idea sharing.

During lunch, Towson football head coach Pete Shinnick shared why he chose the Greek word arete to help build team culture.

Highlighting the afternoon were breakout sessions in functional areas – first with peer groups then mixing and matching leadership teams from each institution plus a 30-minute Q&A with Towson University president Dr. Mark Ginsberg about the changing landscape of college athletics.

"I think it was a great day to get to know partners across the Baltimore community," said Melvin Hines, Deputy Athletic Director & Chief Operating Officer at Morgan. "We all have some of the same challenges. Some of the challenges we have we can work on together. Even though we are competitors at the end of the day, it is really about the student-athletes. Anytime we can come together for the student-athletes is a plus."