Carrie S Bert ’97 serves as Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics at Eastern Mennonite University, where she provides leadership for EMU’s intercollegiate athletics program. Bert was named Director of Athletics in August 2022 after serving four months as Interim AD, becoming the first woman to lead the Royals Athletics program. In 2024, she was named Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics. Bert is the first woman to serve as athletic director in EMU's history.
A proud EMU alumna and former student-athlete, Bert returned to the university with a deep understanding of the institution and its mission. Prior to becoming Director of Athletics, she served as Assistant Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator from 2020-2022. In that role, she supported staff development and mentoring, created programming for graduate and full-time assistant coaches, developed a dual-sport student-athlete support framework, and served as EMU’s Campus COVID Logistics Coordinator during the pandemic.
Bert's career in athletics followed five years as head women’s volleyball coach from 2015-2019 and four years as an assistant coach from 2010-2014. As head coach, she helped re-establish the Royals as a competitive program in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, culminating in a 13-13 season in 2019. Her playing and coaching experiences have continued to shape her approach to athletics leadership, with an emphasis on competitive excellence, holistic student-athlete development, strong relationships and the distinctive educational opportunities of NCAA Division III athletics.
Today, Bert leads an athletics department sponsoring 17 intercollegiate sports and serving nearly 300 student-athletes. EMU competes in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and NCAA Division III, while also sponsoring NCAA emerging-sport women’s triathlon and nationally competitive men’s and women’s college disc golf programs.
Under Bert’s leadership, EMU Athletics has expanded its investment in student-athlete support, facilities, staffing and program development. The department unveiled a new track and field complex in 2024 and completed a major renovation of its turf field, including a new artificial turf surface and padding. Bert also worked with community partners, including Eastern Mennonite School and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community, to secure funding for improvements to EMU’s tennis courts, including the conversion of two courts into six pickleball courts.
Bert has also championed strategic staffing growth designed to strengthen the day-to-day student-athlete experience and the long-term development of EMU’s programs. During her tenure, the department added an Associate Director of Athletics for Operations, EMU’s first full-time Strength and Conditioning Coach, expanded athletics communications staffing, and added full-time assistant coaching positions across multiple programs. She has also expanded resources supporting student-athlete well-being, including a formal partnership with James Madison University’s McMillin Center for Sport Psychology.
As an athletics leader, Bert has emphasized developing coaches and programs that value both competitive success and the broader educational mission of Division III athletics. Recent coaching searches and hires have reflected that philosophy, with an emphasis on recruiting, student-athlete development, relationships, competitive growth and building programs for long-term success.
Before beginning her collegiate athletics career, Bert spent five years as an elementary school teacher, teaching second grade at Stone Spring Elementary in Harrisonburg and third grade at Laurel Mountain Elementary in Austin, Texas. While living in Austin, she also supervised student teachers for the University of Texas and provided private tutoring.
Bert grew up in the Holmes County area of Ohio and graduated cum laude from EMU in 1997 with a degree in Liberal Arts Elementary Education and minors in coaching and music. As a student-athlete, she played women’s volleyball and ranks fifth in program history with 293 career blocks. She recorded more than 700 career kills and was named All-ODAC in 1996. She later earned a Master of Education degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004.
Bert succeeded Dave King as Director of Athletics following his 17-year tenure leading EMU Athletics.
Carrie is married to Daryl Bert ’97. They have three children.
