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Alumni News Alumna becomes top female baseball general manager Marla Terranova Vickers, '08, wasn't planning to go into sports management, but a single class assignment at CMU changed her life. Vickers is now the general manager of the Montgomery (Ala.) Biscuits baseball team, the Class AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, making her the fourth female general manager in minor league baseball and the only woman at the AA level or higher. "I'm not a baseball fan, so working in baseball wasn't something I've dreamed about," Vickers says. As an assignment in her Introduction to Recreation class, Vickers needed to interview someone working in a recreation field. A Lansing, Mich., native, she chose to speak with the general manager of minor league baseball's Lansing Lugnuts. After the interview, she was offered a summer internship in the team's box office and never left. "Once I started, I fell in love with the atmosphere that sports created – the fans, the facilities and the way they have an impact on a community." From the Lugnuts, Vickers put her degree on hold for a few years and moved to Montgomery in 2003, preparing the stadium for the Biscuits' inaugural season in 2004 and serving in a variety of roles before her most recent promotion in January. While baseball may not have been in her original plans, CMU certainly was. "My older brother Tony ('01 M.A. '05) and cousin Christopher ('02) both went to Central, and when I visited them I really liked the campus – everyone was so friendly," Vickers says. "Central has really turned into a family tradition!" In addition to Tony, Vickers' two other brothers also are CMU alumni – Andrew, '05, and Alexander, '09. Her sister, Mallory Kunkel, will enter CMU in the fall. • Support your Chippewas The CMU Alumni Association brings the tailgate party to three away games this season: September 10 CMU vs. Kentucky Lexington, Ken. September 24 CMU vs. MSU East Lansing, Mich. October 8 CMU vs. NC State Raleigh, N.C. Get more information on the tailgate parties: cmualum.com 800-358-6903 For game tickets: 1-888-FIREUP-2 Join us before each home game at the CMU alumni tent on the Island north of Kelly Shorts Stadium for complementary tailgate food. At Homecoming, stop by and visit the Alumni Village. CMU is an AA/EO institution (see cmich.edu/aaeo). For accommodations, call 989-774-2842 at least one week before the event. • UComm 8513 38 centralight summer '11 Get Fired Up on the road!