Cassaundra Thorpe joined the staff as Career & Leadership Coordinator in 2017 and was promoted to Assistant Director for Career & Leadership in 2019. Thorpe coordinates team workshops and provides individual involvement, leadership, life and career coaching for her assigned teams. Thorpe serves as the Advisor for our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), liaison with the Office of Inclusion & Engagement, assists with Badger Go Pro events through the W Club and assists with the annual Buckinghams: Student-Athlete Showcase of Excellence. She manages operations in the Student-Athlete Development Programs and Practices committee in the National Association of Academic and Student-Athlete Development Professionals (N4A). She is also a member of the Minority Opportunities Athletic Association (MOAA).
Prior to Madison, she served as an Athletic Academic Counselor at Kent State University (Ohio) and worked with men’s basketball, women’s basketball, men’s cross country/track and field, women’s cross country/track and field and wrestling monitoring their NCAA eligibility, progress towards degree and graduation. While at Kent State, Thorpe worked on events such as Career Night, Golden Flashes Gala, Freshman Orientation, the Judy Devine Honors Dinner and the Graduation Breakfast.
Before Kent State, Thorpe was the Director of Student-Athlete Development at the University of Cincinnati for five years. She developed, implemented and executed personal growth, professional development and community engagement programming for all 500 student-athletes. Outside of monthly developmental events, she organized and facilitated ONE TEAM beginning and end of the year events, Legion of Excellence and Student-Athlete Networking Night. She also served as the advisor for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and oversaw their annual Gatorade Pong Fundraiser for M.A.D.D.
While also in Cincinnati, she had a post-graduate internship at Xavier University (Ohio) working with women’s basketball, baseball and First Year Experience Course which led her to the University of Cincinnati (Ohio) where she became the Director of Student-Athlete Development working with all 500 student-athletes on their personal and career development and community engagement.
Thorpe grew up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. After high school, she went to Saint Anselm College (New Hampshire) to pursue a degree in Psychology and played basketball there all four years. After graduation in 2008, she went to Springfield College (Massachusetts) to pursue a degree in Athletic Counseling and graduated in 2010.
