Dr. Joel M. Jones, who still calls Durango home, served as president of Fort Lewis College from 1988-98 — an era that saw the college’s athletic department undergo numerous changes that saw it go from an NAIA also-ran to an NCAA Division II powerhouse. Although some of these changes were unpopular at the time, they paved the way for future success.
“Dr. Jones advanced Skyhawk Athletics more so than any president in the college’s history,” said Aaland, who served as FLC’s sports information director for six years during the Jones era. “He made decisions in regard to gender equity, budget and personnel that were at times difficult, but ultimately positioned the athletic department for the tremendous amount of success that we’ve enjoyed in the past decade.”
Among those changes were: the addition of men’s soccer in 1990, women’s soccer in 1993 and cycling in 1994; discontinuing the sports of wrestling in 1995 and men’s and women’s tennis in 1989; changed the school’s mascot and nickname from Raiders to Skyhawks in 1994; and switching conferences from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (which competed in the NAIA at the time) to the Colorado Athletic Conference (which competed at the NCAA Division II level) in 1991, only to return to the RMAC in 1994 after the conference and its other schools followed the CAC’s lead in jumping to NCAA Division II.
He also improved the college’s “Town & Gown” relationship, which has positively impacted Skyhawk Athletics in countless ways, including attendance at games, enrollment of local youth in summer camps and clinics, corporate partnerships, Skyhawk Booster Club fundraising efforts and mutually-beneficial opportunities for FLC student-athletes to get involved in the community.
Fans who attended FLC games in the 1980s and ‘90s remember Jones as a diehard and vocal supporter of Raider and Skyhawk teams at home games.
Shortly after Jones retired as president, Fort Lewis began to reap the benefits of his leadership. Men’s soccer advanced to its first national title game in 1999, losing in double overtime to Southern Connecticut State. The Skyhawks have since won three NCAA Division II national championships and finished as national runners-up one other time in men’s soccer. Women’s soccer won its first league title in 1999 and has emerged as a perennial Top 25 program. And cycling has won 20 USA Cycling national titles in the disciplines of mountain biking, road racing and cyclocross while individual riders have won more than 65 gold medals on the national stage. Nearly every other sport that FLC fields has also advanced to nationals in the years since Jones’ presidency.
