The Division III Commissioners Association (D3CA) recently announced its annual service honors, the Meritorious Service Award and the Dennis M. Collins Lifetime Achievement Award. Additionally, during the 2021 NCAA Convention's Division III Business Session, outgoing DIIICA President, Joe Onderko (Presidents' Athletic Conference) revealed that the DIIICA's Meritorious Service Award shall be renamed the Daniel T. Dutcher Meritorious Service Award in recognition of the soon-to-be retired NCAA Vice President of Division III.
Dutcher, a DIIICA Meritorious Service Award winner himself in 2004, has been a faithful and dedicated leader of Division III for the past 25 years. Dutcher served as chief staff liaison to the Division III Presidents Council and Division III Management Council and oversaw a host of governance committees in Division III. He started his NCAA career as a legislative assistant in 1986 and served as director of legislative services from 1991 until January 1996. "Mr. Dutcher has become a trusted and treasured colleague for the many individuals fortunate to have served, or currently serve, as Division III conference commissioners," as stated by Onderko to the Division III membership.
The, newly renamed, 2021 Daniel T. Dutcher Meritorious Service Award is bestowed annually to an individual, who, over time, has made significant and substantial contributions to Division III athletics consistent with the purposes of the D3CA. This year, that honor was given to Brad Bankston from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). Bankston marks his 28th year of service to the ODAC in 2020-21 and his contributions to Division III and the ODAC have been numerous. He just completed a four-year term on the Division III Management Council, which reports directly to the Division III Presidents Council. He has served on four NCAA Division III committees and served as chair for three of those groups -- Championships Committee (2000-04; chair 2001-03), Football Championship Committee (2009-13; chair 2012-13), Men's Golf Championship Committee (2004-08; chair 2006-08), and Budget Committee (2002-03). Finally, Bankston served as President of the DIIICA in 2008.
The Dennis M. Collins Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2019 to honor the legacy of Collins who served as president of the DIIICA, who he helped form in 1989. He was the first Executive Director of the North Coast Athletic Conference and served from 1984 until his passing in 2009. This year, the award was bested to Tim Gleason of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Gleason became the first full-time commissioner of the OAC in 1991 and has led the Conference into national and international limelight throughout his tenure. His service to the NCAA is lengthy as he was a member of the Division III Management Council from 2004-09, has chaired the prestigious NCAA Honors Committee and has served as a was a member of the Championships Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Infractions Appeals Committee, Legislation Committee and Division III Football Committee. Finally, Collins was the president of the DIIICA in 2004 and 2005 where he fathered the $1.4 million NCAA Conference Grant Program. Three years later, in 2008, he received the DIIICA's Daniel T. Dutcher Meritorious Service Award.