WASHINGTON – A generous gift from the Powers and MacDonald families added a new position within Academic Support as Francis X. Rienzo Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed announced the hiring of Molly Socha to fill the newly-created role of coordinator for student-athlete services. This position will work within Academic Support to aid more than 700 student-athletes as the Department seeks to enhance academic resources offerings.

"The academic success of our student-athletes is a pillar of our approach to developing the whole person, '' said Reed. "The addition of Molly as our coordinator for student-athlete services will enhance our commitment to that mission. We are incredibly grateful to both the MacDonald and Powers families for their support as we strive to provide our student-athletes with resources they need to achieve success in the classroom, community and on the field of competition."

Socha comes to Georgetown from the University of Hartford where she served as a student-athlete academic advisor for nearly two years. In her role at Hartford, she assisted student-athletes in achieving a high level of academic success including a combined department wide 3.46 GPA in 2020-21. Socha transitioned to her role on the academic staff after competing at Hartford as a member of the women's soccer team for four years where she was honored with the Soccer Excellence Scholar Award in both 2018 and 2020. The Massachusetts native graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in health services before completing her master's degree in industrial and organizational psychology from Hartford in 2020.

Fred Powers (B'87) is no stranger to the commitments required of student-athletes as he was a member of the men's lacrosse team during his time on the Hilltop. Following graduation, Fred had a career in manufacturing working in his family business for 25 years, Powers Fasteners, which was sold to Stanley Black & Decker in 2012. Hailing from a large Georgetown family, Fred's older brother Jeff (B'81) and nephew William (B'21) were both members of the swimming & diving program while at Georgetown. Fred's daughter Brooke (C'21) graduated from Georgetown College this past spring.

"My family is honored to assist the Athletics Department in adding this critical position. I remember the difficulties of juggling both academics and athletics while at Georgetown and am thankful for the assistance the Department provided me in helping to achieve success in both areas," said Powers. "We hope that this new position will continue the tradition of support for Hoya student-athletes helping them to achieve success during their time on the Hilltop."

Marianne (C'87) and Tri MacDonald (B'86) met while attending Georgetown and have three children together. Their daughter Amanda (MBA/MPP'20) recently completed her dual degree program in the McDonough and McCourt Schools. Living near the Hilltop, the MacDonald family is often seen on the sidelines supporting the Hoyas. Marianne and Tri are longtime supporters of both the Department as well as University at large with an emphasis on resources for students. Tri MacDonald is chief executive officer and president of Berkeley Research Group.

"The demands on Georgetown student-athletes are immense as they work to balance their efforts in the classroom, in competition and in the community. We are impressed by the emphasis the Department has put on providing support for the student-athletes to help them succeed in all of these areas," said Marianne.  "Our family is grateful that we have the opportunity to help support the Department in achieving a high level of academic support and hope that this new position will help current and future Hoya student-athletes achieve their goals in the classroom and on the playing field."