Giving Back to College and Community
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By DERON SNYDER (as published by Juniata College)
Scott McKenzie just expected to be recognized for longevity during a Juniata College event last April.
“I showed because my 20th anniversary was during the pandemic and they didn’t have the celebration then,” says McKenzie, Juniata’s associate athletic director for athletic operations since July 2000. “They started talking about Joanne Krugh and then President Troha put my name and picture on the screen.
“My first thought was: What the hell am I doing up there?”
Now entering his 24th year on College Hill, McKenzie says nothing he’s done is special and he’s not either. But he holds the minority opinion. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have won the Joanne Krugh Award for a body of work that demonstrates exceptional ability, accomplishment and commitment to the campus community.
“He had been doing administration while coaching for many, many years,” says women’s volleyball coach Heather Pavlik, a member of the interview panel in 2000 when McKenzie was hired as the men’s and women’s soccer coach. “He had his fingerprints in different places. When he moved into administration it became very apparent that Scott made this place run. He was a lot of the reason that things got done and he helped move the place forward in so many different ways.”
Forward and back around. One of his former athletes – the first soccer player inducted into Juniata’s Hall of Fame – returned to Huntingdon for the same reasons McKenzie has stayed. “He very much loves this community,” says Nikki Ayers, entering her second season as athletic director. “He very much loves his co-workers, loves the students, and everything he does is for us. I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time I can pay him back for what he’s given me or Juniata. He’s a very special person.”
McKenzie’s says giving someone too much credit can be dangerous, his philosophy as a coach who won Juniata’s first conference title in any women’s sport, and won conference tournament berths in his final four seasons. He has the same philosophy as an administrator. “It takes a lot of people to make things work,” he says. “I’m not doing anything more than pulling my share.”
Millions of outsiders disagreed after NBC, People magazine and other media outlets publicized his acts of service through “Cookies for Caregivers,” a campaign he co-founded and watched go viral. He says about 60 other groups were baking and delivering cookies to first responders at the height at the movement, and he was in a Super Bowl commercial with co-founder Jeremy Uhrich.
Besides that, amazing experience, (“surreal” he says), he never imagined staying at Juniata for nearly a quarter-century. He’s from Southern California and his wife is from Central New York, neither of them with ties to Pennsylvania. He thought they’d move on after about five years, but they grew to love Huntingdon and so did their two daughters. “Five became 10, and 10 became 15,” he says. “We found our place.”
The place has changed a bit with the addition of new facilities and several sports. Ayers has witnessed the transition from three vantagepoints – as McKenzie’s player, assistant coach and supervisor – and sees splashes of his essence everywhere, not just in the athletics department.
“He’s had a tremendous impact in the relationships he’s built across campus,” Ayers says. “Whether it’s student life, development, camps & conferences, enrollment … he’s just Juniata through and through. Humble, willing to give everything to the college and the local community, and everything like that.”
He wears multiple hats in athletics, primarily overseeing event management, facility management and equipment services, while serving as the administrator for softball, lacrosse and tennis. Pavlik says NCAA officials gush over McKenzie’s prowess at organizing championship events when Juniata plays host. The Eagles enjoy that level of attention year-round.
“There’s nothing he won’t do,” Pavlik says. “He will step in anywhere at any time. If an announcer gets sick, Scott will announce the game. Do some laundry? Scott will get his hands dirty. He’s just not afraid to get in the weeds and get things done to make everyone else’s job easier.”
He isn’t hearing it. “I have the honor of working with hundreds of outstanding people, both students and colleagues,” he says. “It’s an honor to come to work for them and for them every day.
“That’s the message I’d appreciate getting out.”
