According to a news release from the school issued Friday, Brubacher has been asked, starting with the spring semester, to devote his time to leading an exploratory study regarding the college?s development of a ?National Conference on Faith and Athletics? as early as 2010.
Brubacher will continue to carry the title athletic director throughout the second semester while he begins his new assignment.
The decision to host the conference will be made after the feasibility study is completed. At that point Brubacher will either continue to manage the conference to completion or be appointed to another position at the college.
Karol Hunt, chair of the physical education department, will continue to handle day-to-day operations of the athletic department. She filled in for Brubacher this past fall while he was on sabbatical. Hunt will oversee the athletic program this spring while the college assesses the long-term needs of the department and conducts a national search for a new director.
?We will continue this arrangement as we decide during the semester where we will go in the longer term,? Ressler said.
?Don has served Tabor with great distinction for many years,? Ressler said. ?Although current plans are not to have Don continue as athletic director next year, there will be a place for Don here, whether he chooses to continue to provide leadership for the national conference or not.?
Brubacher led the men?s basketball program for 25 seasons before retiring from coaching last year. His teams won 11 conference championships and qualified for post-season play 20 times. He also coached successful men?s and women?s soccer teams.
The role of athletic director was added to his duties as men?s basketball coach in 2000. He was succeeded as head coach by Micah Ratzlaff for the current season.
In addition to athletic director, during his 32-year tenure at Tabor Brubacher has served as a coach, associate professor of physical education, assistant athletic director, director of the capital campaign, and director of alumni and related programs during his 32-year tenure at Tabor.
?Many lives have been changed because of Don Brubacher?s coaching and his teaching,? Ressler said. ?His credentials are just right to lead a national conference on faith and athletics if he decides to stay with the project. He is passionate about faith and the mission of the college.?
Tabor fields 14 teams and has an annual budget of $750,000. More than half of all Tabor students?about 250 of them? receive athletic scholarships.
Tabor has won a dozen conference championships in various sports the past six years, with 10 coaches named KCAC Coach of the Year.
