EASTON, Pa. -- Lafayette Athletics, in partnership with the Communications and Development divisions of the College, is launching Primetime Pards, a year-long monthly alumni engagement series. Each edition of Primetime Pards will be hosted by Gary Laubach of the Lafayette Sports Network on Zoom at 8 p.m. ET and feature a guest alum.
Lafayette alumni and will receive invitations via email to register for Primetime Pards. Because of Zoom participation limitations, early registration for Primetime Pards is encouraged.
Tom Odjakjian '76, who serves as the senior associate commissioner for broadcasting and digital content at the American Athletic Conference (formerly the Big East Conference), kicks off the first Primetime Pards on Thursday, July 16. Prior to joining the American Athletic Conference in 1995, Odjakjian served in various executive roles at ESPN from 1981-94 including director of college sports. He was the architect behind the creation of ESPN's basketball Championship Week and football Bowl Week and had a hand in the network's NFL, NBA, NHL and Olympic sports programming. In 1994, he was named as The Most Influential Person in College Sports by College Sports Magazine and was tabbed as one of the four most influential people in college basketball by Sporting News in 1990.
The 1976 recipient of the Pepper Prize, Odjakjian graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics and business and played both football and baseball.
Beth Mowins '89, a veteran and pioneering play-by-play broadcaster who currently works for both ABC and ESPN, is the featured Primetime Pards guest on Thursday, Aug. 6. In 2017, Mowins became the first woman in 30 years to call an NFL game and first to call a nationally-televised game when she worked the LA Chargers vs. Denver Broncos game as part of ESPN's season-opening Monday Night Football doubleheader. She began calling college football for ESPN in 2005. Since joining ESPN in 1994, she has called NCAA Championships in basketball, softball, soccer and volleyball and has been the voice of the Women's College World Series for more than 20 years.
Mowins captained Lafayette's women's basketball team, was a three-time all-conference selection, 1,000-point scorer, and is still the Leopards' all-time career assists leader with 715. She was inducted into the Maroon Club Hall of Fame in 2005.
Mowins earned her master's degree in communications from Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School in 1990. In 2015, Syracuse honored her with the Marty Glickman Award for leadership in sports media, joining the likes of Bob Costas, Marv Albert and Sean McDonough.
