Meet the HPLS Dean

Hi, and welcome! We’re glad you decided to join us on this virtual “sneak preview” and tour of Barry University’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (ICA). As you search our site for sport-specific information and academic and career opportunities, keep in mind that you can be enjoying all of the benefits of our outstanding athletic programs in an enviable tropical setting with a perfect year-round climate. Studying certainly seems much more palatable while sitting under a palm tree or by the ocean with sand between your toes and a cooling gulf stream breeze in your face. Our location in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale metropolitan area is also ideal for providing almost every sport venue imaginable for internship and field experiences in the sport and exercise sciences. Where else can you find every major professional sport franchise represented, or experience successful collegiate athletics programs at both the Division I and II levels, or work in a setting at the NASDAQ 100 Open or at the Doral Genuity Championship that allows you to be “up close and personal” with celebrity tennis stars and golfers, or where you can join the team that plans and promotes the FedEx Orange Bowl extravaganza?

But that’s all just “the icing on the cake.” As you continue to explore our website you’ll get into the real ingredients which, when blended together, make us such an outstanding choice. There is also a special ingredient – a treasure within these BUCCANEER walls - that can be found throughout the department. It’s our people! They are all highly student-oriented and have YOU and your best interests as their primary focus. I know there are many other institutions that also make the same claim, but we actually live it.

Within the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, our administrators and coaches are truly dedicated to the real reason you should choose to attend Barry: attaining your college degree. There is no lip service here! We have been able to achieve the perfect balance between academic accomplishment and athletic success:

• Fielding nationally competitive teams made up of athletes who are also great students (as many as 68.7% of our student-athletes have boasted GPAs of 3.0 or better)
• Winning seven National Championships since 1989
• Being ranked the top athletics program in the nation twice in five years among the private institutions in NCAA Division II

Our support staff have over 10 years experience in servicing your requests and responding to your inquiries. Our administrative, coaching, teaching and support TEAM go the extra mile to best serve YOU.

I can assure you that although this sounds too good to be true, it isn’t! Opportunities in sport, recreation and exercise sciences abound - whether your interest is preparation for a career, participation on a varsity team, or pursuing an active lifestyle during your leisure hours. It is my job to make sure that every resource possible is made available to insure you an outstanding education in the classroom and a positive collegiate experience as a student-athlete or recreational participant. After you complete your exploration of our website, call to make arrangements to visit our campus so that you can see our outstanding facilities and our labs firsthand and also experience for yourself the warmth and commitment of our treasure chest of people who create our “family atmosphere” in HPLS.

G. Jean Cerra, Ph.D.