UH compliance chief gains the chancellor’s trust

In a 1996 soccer match against nationally ranked Brigham Young, Amanda Paterson fielded 36 shots on goal, a figure that still stands as a record siege for University of Hawaii goalkeepers.

This time last year, as UH’s athletic compliance director overseeing NCAA rules, Paterson was under fire in ways not seen in her days on the pitch.

Amid the developing NCAA investigation, basketball loyalists and sycophants blamed her office loud and often for the inquiry and resulting clouds over the program.

But in the intervening months, the one-time All-Western Athletic Conference goalkeeper has not only found backing in high places, she has gained the administration’s ear, something underlined this week with the hiring of the new athletic director, David Matlin.

Robert Bley-Vroman, who was dean of linguistics at UH before being named Manoa chancellor in September, arrived with scant grounding in intercollegiate athletics or much connection with the athletic department. 

But in a matter of months, he came to value Paterson’s thoroughness and principled stand in NCAA matters so much that he also made her a part of the eight-member search advisory committee responsible for recommending the new athletic director. Nineteen years after Paterson set the school record for single-season saves (118), the chancellor tasked her to assist in his biggest sports hire.  

Paterson was one of two people from the athletic department named to the committee by Bley-Vroman, and her voice, according to people at UH, was one of the loudest in favor of Matlin, whom she had worked with as a student employee. 

While Matlin’s selection is widely seen as raising the profile of committee chairman Warren Haruki as a sports power broker, it is also read as further validating Paterson’s standing.

“We have great confidence in Amanda’s abilities, and the NCAA report certainly confirmed that,” Bley-Vroman said after the NCAA issued its Notice of Allegations in January. 

In the report, the NCAA cited UH compliance staff’s promptness, active engagement and “valuable assistance” as “mitigating factors” it recommended the enforcement hearing panel to consider when it comes time to mete out sanctions.

“We feel we have a very good enforcement system, a very good compliance officer, and the NCAA itself recognized the excellence of our compliance operation,” Bley-Vroman said. “What we need is a coaching staff that shares those values and can help the compliance staff and administration move forward.”

Paterson gets high marks from people who have worked with her across disparate departments on campus. “I think her work is exemplary,” baseball coach Mike Trapasso said. “You are dealing with an extremely thankless job, but all my (interactions) with Amanda have been nothing but positive because she cares about doing the job right, she cares about the athletes and she cares about making sure that we do our jobs the right way. 

“In that position, that’s all you can ask for,” Trapasso said.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.