Meet Gavin Viano

New director of athletics and recreation aims to build on Trinity tradition

Story by Andrew J. Concatelli
Photos by Nick Caito

“Athletics is about creating community,” says Gavin Viano, Trinity’s new director of athletics and recreation. “We’re all busy in life, but when we come together around a sport for a few hours or for a whole season, we all want the same things: for Trinity to be its best and to win.”

The connection that Viano sees being forged among Bantams extends far beyond campus. “When we see each other in the airport wearing Trinity gear, we have something to talk about,” he says. “Athletics offers a commonality that we’re all proud of.”

Viano oversees Trinity’s 30 Division III varsity sports programs, three of which—women’s squash, men’s basketball, and men’s rowing—won national championships last year. Recreation offerings at Trinity include club and intramural sports, in addition to fitness and outdoor education programs.

Before coming to Trinity in August 2025, Viano served as director of athletics and recreation and associate vice president of strategic programs at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. Joseph DiChristina, Trinity’s vice president for student life, says that Viano’s background in athletic administration and fundraising will benefit the College in many ways. “Gavin has a student-focused approach and a real talent for connecting with members of our community,” DiChristina says.

Uniting students, alumni, faculty, and staff is just one motivator for Viano in his leadership role. “I believe that the most important lesson to be learned through athletics—being part of a team—really sets you up for the rest of your life,” says Viano. “Sport teaches us the structure, discipline, and confidence we’ll need for the next 40 or 50 years of our lives in our families, careers, or anything in between. It’s about developing leadership skills at an early adult age, and those skills don’t ever leave us.”

Viano earned a B.A. in history from Clark University, where he was captain of its Division III men’s swimming and diving team. “Athletics was central and integral to my college experience,” he says. His time competing as a student-athlete and growing up with a father who was a college rowing coach helped inspire Viano to pursue a career in higher education athletics, which he began as an assistant coach at Clark.

“At first I thought that I really wanted to be a coach, but then I dug deeper into the business side of sport,” says Viano, who earned a master’s in sports management from Drexel University while working there as director of athletic development. He learned about the job of an athletic director and felt he would be well suited for the work. “Coaching is very finite and focused. Becoming an athletic director allowed me to be around sports the way I wanted to, but it gave me a broader look. I love all sports, so I was no longer tied to just one sport or one season,” Viano says.

Before joining Wheaton, Viano served as senior managing director of athletics fundraising at Dartmouth College from 2010 to 2015 and as associate athletic director for development at Davidson College from 2015 to 2020.

Throughout his career, Viano has worked to provide support for students to succeed in the classroom and in competition. “Athletics can really supplement lessons taught in the classroom,” Viano says. “It provides things that can only be learned experientially.” As a team works together to respond to an adversary in real time, individual players learn resiliency while they determine how best to contribute to the greater good, he says.

Recreational sports and fitness programs provide physical activities and life lessons to all students, Viano adds. “I’m a big believer that movement and activity are crucial for overall well-being. I’m excited about offering ways to help everyone at Trinity carve out time to be physically

active; whether it’s yoga, cardio, or a hike in the woods, people should find what makes them feel good and helps to clear their minds,” he says.

State-of-the-art wellness and fitness opportunities are available on campus at the Scully Center, a major addition to the George M. Ferris Athletic Center that opened last summer. The Scully Center—named in honor of Marlynn V. GP’28, ’29 and William P. Scully ’61, H’18, GP’28, ’29—includes spaces for varsity, club, and recreational sports, along with a cardio room and the Kovas Squash Center, with seven world-class courts.

“The Scully Center is the newest showpiece of the elite facilities at Trinity,” Viano says. “The bones of our athletic footprint on campus are really first class, and we’re working on plans to keep it that way.” Viano adds that the Hazelton Strength and Conditioning Center (formerly the Hazelton Fitness Center) is among the best DIII strength and conditioning facilities in the country.

Trinity President Dan Lugo notes that Viano will help to support a culture in which student-athletes can compete at the highest levels and all students can prioritize their wellness. “As a Division III program, we have the distinct advantage of living and learning in a community where students are known, valued, and cared for as people—a student experience where academic and athletic success work in concert,” Lugo said in an announcement about Viano’s appointment.

Viano is spending his first year at Trinity working with coaches and other campus leaders to chart a course for the College’s continued athletic success. He says that while Trinity is a perennial contender within its conference—the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC)—in several sports, he plans to look at the bigger picture and to aim even higher.

“I really want Trinity to be an annual top 10, top 20 DIII program nationally,” Viano says. “How can we compete for the Learfield Directors’ Cup among the best overall intercollegiate athletics programs in NCAA Division III? What do we need in terms of budget or facilities? We shouldn’t be afraid to go after that. A multiyear strategic plan will put us on that path.”

Viano says that he believes that the student-athletes and coaches who have won championships represent Trinity well, whether in athletic competition or elsewhere. “They’re not cutting any corners as students, as scholars, or as people—they’re doing it as the best version of Trinity,” he says. “That should make the community just as proud as winning.

“What Trinty has proven with its recent championships is that we have the ability to be on the national stage in multiple sports,” Viano adds. “No matter the sport, Trinity has the ingredients to be among the best teams in the country every year. We should be excited to say that out loud and celebrate it.”