During its annual "Gritty Awards" last Wednesday, May 7, UMBC Athletics went "off script" and surprised DoIT's Dustin Roddy, by awarding him the 2017-18 Leon Upshur Memorial Award for "outstanding service to UMBC Athletics." Upshur was a much-loved equipment room supervisor for more than 20 years, who "asked for and received very little fanfare" said Sports Information Director Steve Levy. "He simply got the job done quietly and efficiently."
"I was completely shocked," says the New Media Studio's Roddy, who was broadcasting the event on Facebook Live when Levy called him up to the stage (see time code 45:16 of the UMBC Athletics FB Live recording | FB login required). "This really meant a lot to me."
Clearly, the feeling was mutual as Roddy got a rousing ovation from the crowd that included several hundred UMBC athletes who, Levy said, may have recognized Dustin from his coverage of their games, "but not known his name." In addition to traveling with Men's Basketball for what has become unique, behind-the-scenes footage of the team's historic upset of #1 overall seed Virginia on March 16, Dustin has been key to DoIT's support of the ESPN3 live sports broadcasting partnership with Athletics and Media and Communications Studies (MCS) for the past two seasons. He's been particularly instrumental in -- and proud of -- helping to mentor MCS students who now largely make up most of each game's production crew.
Congrats Dustin!