At Dartmouth, student-athletes are a large part of the Big Green culture, making up 25% of campus. However, few have devoted as much time and energy to Dartmouth Athletics as former communications director Justin Lafleur. After 12 years in sports media relations at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., Lafleur began his tenure at Dartmouth with the start of the 2022 academic year. However, Lafleur left Dartmouth on Feb.15th to become director of communications at his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
The Dartmouth sat down with Lafleur to discuss which teams he’ll be working with, how it feels to return to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst as a member of the faculty and his time as a member of the Dartmouth community.
How does it feel to be beginning a new job at your alma mater?
JL: A big part of this was the alma mater piece. Knowing how much I enjoyed my experience here and being given the opportunity to work with sports I’m comfortable with, such as basketball, lacrosse and field hockey, was exciting. It was hard to believe it had been over 15 years since I graduated and I haven't been back much since because of my work in full-time college athletics at Lehigh, Dartmouth and Penn State. Because of that, in some ways, it really made me want to be back and experience it even more.
I do think Dartmouth helped me a ton in terms of getting ready for an opportunity like this. I learned so much. Working with different sports, different types of tasks, different challenges, different triumphs — it prepared me for this opportunity. So far, it’s been about two weeks, I feel like I’ve hit the ground running. Still adjusting, of course, but being knowledgeable of the campus along with the sports I’m working with and some of the people has allowed me to start off strong.
What would you say were some of your biggest takeaways from your three-and-a-half years with Dartmouth athletics?
JL: I learned about everything at Dartmouth on the day-to-day level, especially working with different sports. I worked with practically every sport that Dartmouth offers, from sailing to skiing, basketball, football and more. The community there is special. There are a lot of people involved in athletics because of the quantity of sports. Also, everyone is so close. It’s something that I really haven’t experienced before. I’m so grateful for it because I left feeling like I had such a close-knit community that I hope will last a lifetime. The leadership opportunities have been amazing as well, including overseeing staff for the first time in my career.
There were definitely learning curves. But I also think that during my time, I did get better, which I’m grateful for. The day-to-day of working with different types of sports, doing different types of things and leading is where I really homed in on my skills, as well as being able to do traditional sports information tasks along with [media] content production. There’s been a big move around the country for more modern-day coverage where you’re doing social media and you’re capturing content on the road and at practices. That’s a piece that I’m a big advocate for and feel like I learned a lot about and we push towards.
What sort of advice would you give to students hoping to have a career in sports at some point in the future?
JL: I was a sports management major at UMass and there was an opportunity to help in the communications office at the time. I did not know if that’s what I wanted to do full-time, but I tried it and I loved it. So my advice would definitely be to try things out, volunteer, ask, just see what’s out there. It won’t come to you on a silver platter. It will be something where you have to create your opportunity. Ask your campus office if there are opportunities to help in different ways, whether it’s office work, or at games — just get your foot in the door. From there, if you love what you do, if you show passion, people will notice and they’ll give you more responsibilities.
What do you think you’re going to miss the most about the Dartmouth community and about Hanover as you begin this new role?
JL: I definitely think it’s the people. It’s something special. There really is a truth to this feeling of being “in the woods” and being so close-knit. On a professional and personal level, there are so many different types of people. I’m talking coworkers, coaches and student-athletes. The student-athlete piece is definitely big as well.
They are why we do what we do. In communications, that’s my “why.” I think that’s the “why” of most people in this field — getting up every morning to try to publicize the great things [student-athletes do] on and off the playing field. There’s so much to highlight at Dartmouth with the student-athletes. I loved telling the story behind the box score while I was there.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
