Director of Athletics Drew Galbraith Leaves Trinity After Seven Years

Annika Dyczkowski ’25
Executive Sports Editor

On Feb. 4, Drew Galbraith announced his exit as Trinity’s Director of Athletics. After serving the Bantam community for over seven years, Galbraith is joining the National Basketball Association (NBA) to lead as a Senior Vice President of Player Health. The Tripod spoke with Galbraith and discussed this opportunity before his departure from Trinity. 

Galbraith’s new role will entail overseeing all operational and logistical matters of the NBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), the G League and NBA Africa. Some of his responsibilities will entail data tracking and a research partner role, which includes making the game safer for all players, leagues and teams. “That’s how you develop a love for pro sports as you enjoy playing it… looking at what really is the best model for helping young people play sports.”

Prior to his time at Trinity, Galbraith was a Senior Associate and Executive Director in the Athletics Department for 14 years at Dartmouth College. He described his path to Trinity as moving towards a “leadership opportunity at a school that understood the importance of balancing an intense academic experience with an intense athletic experience. I wanted someplace where the students, teams and coaches really valued that duality of purpose.” After affirming that Trinity met this criteria, Galbraith concluded that serving as the school’s Director of Athletics was an exciting opportunity. “It was a great decision. I don’t regret it for a second and I certainly wasn’t looking to leave Trinity right now, but this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity.” He expanded on his bittersweet decision, saying “I could have been happy being at Trinity for a much longer time, it’s a great place and we’re following through on the mission that we set up to accomplish, which was to provide these experiences for students to grow as people and curious individuals, I don’t think there’s any better laboratory for that than what happens at practice everyday.”

Galbraith affirmed that the relationships he has formed with students is what he will miss most from his time at Trinity. “You really get to know someone and it’s amazing to see them grow over four years. I never really set out to make sure that every student knows what an Athletic Director does everyday, but there is a great deal of fulfillment that comes from putting this array of resources around a student to give them this opportunity.” He expandedon the importance of student growth, “When they’re really doing exceptional things in the classroom, or they’ve started a student group on campus outside of their sport and you just see them flourishing… that’s what I’m going to miss.”

The accomplishments that Galbraith has achieved during his time at Trinity have had a significant impact on the student-athlete experience, including the variety of NCAA and NESCAC championship appearances and titles by a multitude of teams. Last year, Galbraith was named the Athletics Director of the Year for Division III by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). “The thing that sticks out for me the most is the NCAA championships and creating environments that nobody’s ever seen at Trinity and nobody’s ever seen around the country.” Among these NCAA hostings include field hockey competing in the Final Four in 2021, women’s basketball competing in semifinals at Oosting Gymnasium in 2023 and men’s hockey hosting the Frozen Four last season. “These were amazing atmospheres and it showcased our institution.”

Galbraith emphasized that hosting these NCAA events was integral to achieving structural renovations to Trinity’s athletic facilities that he had always envisioned. “I don’t mind saying that the idea of bidding for those things was to ensure that the institutional leadership would support some of the facility upgrades we wanted to do. Our students get to compete in these great facilities and it really shows what an amazing institution Trinity is, non-Trinity people walked away with a greater appreciation of who we are and what we can be.”

Galbraith’s lasting message to students is to “just keep going forward.” His encouragement is a testament to his appreciation for building relationships with students and watching them succeed. “Keep experiencing things, because you don’t want to get to a point where you regret anything. We have had so many teams that have embraced that. At the end of the day, what we’re doing is kind of silly. We’re playing these games, right, and the rules make no sense. But fortunately, there’s a lot more to sports. This is such a finite, amazing period of [student-athletes’] lives.”

Galbraith places strong value in the unique nature of athletics. “There’s no other point where someone’s going to say, ‘Drop everything on Friday morning, we’re gonna get on a bus for five hours and play a game on Friday night and another one on Saturday night, and you’re going to be with all of your best friends doing it. That doesn’t ever happen again in life.” He expands, “We do our best to recreate it, we have our weddings and reunions, but never again do you get to do that with your best friends with no responsibilities. So the challenge to every student is to keep doing that in life. Just keep going forward when you have those moments, try it, see what happens and see where it takes you.”

While Trinity will miss the lasting impact that Galbraith has had on the community, he points back to the school’s integrity. “There will be some things, like, ‘How come the lights weren’t on?’ ‘Maybe because Drew walked down that hallway every day for seven years and happened to flip the lights on?’ Things like that will happen, but these institutions are so much bigger than all of us. I don’t go into any situation thinking, ‘Gosh I hope they remember me,’ but I do hope that the things we did for the spaces and the intent to push the program had an impact on the people who are here to experience them.”