SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Longtime Southern Conference administrator Sue Arakas will retire at the end of the 2021-22 academic year, wrapping up a 28-year career with the league.
 
Arakas, who over the course of nearly three decades moved up the ranks from her start as an administrative assistant in 1994 to associate commissioner, will close the book on her illustrious career at the end of May.
 
“Sue Arakas has been an instrumental part of the Southern Conference’s leadership for over 28 years,” SoCon Commissioner Jim Schaus said. “I am happy for Sue to enjoy a much-deserved retirement after an outstanding career. Caring for others has always been her hallmark. She has been there to care for student-athletes, coaches, staff, fans and volunteers. We thank her for a job well done. Wishing her all the best in her retirement and spending time with family.”
 
The conference’s senior woman administrator, Arakas has been involved with the league’s Student-Athlete Leadership Institute since its inception and has oversight responsibility for the SoCon Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She is a longtime member of Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA) and the national Conference Women Administrators group. A tireless advocate for women in sports, she spearheaded the celebration of 25 years of SoCon women’s athletics in 2007-08.
 
Arakas oversees the conference’s budget, financial resources, office operations and meeting planning. She also supervises the management of daily business operations and administers all policies and procedures of the conference. The conference internship program is also under her supervision.
 
A former restaurateur and a native of Asheville, North Carolina, Arakas became associated with the SoCon through her involvement with the Junior League, which was then a co-sponsor of the SoCon’s basketball tournament. Arakas and her husband, Tommy, served as team hosts for VMI for nearly a decade beginning in 1984, when Asheville hosted the championship for the first time.
 
It was through that involvement that she met former SoCon Commissioner Wright Waters, and eventually, Arakas’s family business, Asheville Catering Service, was catering meals for both the league and Waters.
 
In the early years of her tenure at the SoCon, Arakas pulled double duty between the conference and another family business, Rak’s Downtown Cafe – located in the same downtown Asheville building that housed the league office – popping downstairs to serve as a hostess during the lunch rush before heading back up to the 15^th floor for the second half of the SoCon work day.
 
Arakas’s dedication to the SoCon is paradoxically immeasurable but also quantifiable. When the conference office relocated to Spartanburg, South Carolina, in July 2002, Arakas remained on staff but declined to leave her beloved hometown. Instead, she has made the 140-mile round trip four times a week for the last 20 years, and by the end of May, she will have logged somewhere in the neighborhood of 495,600 miles and spent 7,080 hours commuting back and forth.
 
Arakas has worked under five commissioners during her career, with the longest tenure in that span belonging to John Iamarino, who led the league from 2006-19.
 
“Sue has been a loyal and integral part of the success of the Southern Conference,” Iamarino said. “Her ability to work toward a common goal with constituents ranging from student-athletes to coaches to administrators has been invaluable. Her retirement is well-deserved.”
 
The league has been reshaped several times over during Arakas’s tenure, as she saw the departures of App State, College of Charleston, Davidson, ETSU, Elon, Georgia Southern, Marshall and VMI; the additions of Mercer, UNC Greensboro, Samford and Wofford; and the eventual returns of ETSU and VMI.
 
In an ever-changing college athletics landscape, Arakas has been one of the league’s constants. And with the SoCon’s basketball tournaments under contract to remain in Asheville through at least 2026, it’s a safe bet that Arakas will come full circle and volunteer again.
 
“The Southern Conference has been an important part of my personal and professional life since starting as a volunteer in the late '80s,” Arakas said. “My path into collegiate athletics was not a traditional one, but over the last 28 years, I've learned so much and had the honor to work with so many exceptional colleagues, dedicated administrators and talented student-athletes. A huge thanks to everyone who was part of my unexpected and rewarding SoCon career!”