Mr. Rusty Hollingsworth
Vice President for Student Services and Athletics
Location
Main Campus
Building
Athletic Field House
Room
209
UPO
945
Rusty Hollingsworth is currently serving in his twenty-third year at Campbellsville University. For the first sixteen years, he served as the Director of Athletics and, in 2017, he assumed the role of Vice President for Athletics. During his tenure with CU’s athletic department, he has administered the addition of numerous new facilities: The Hawkins Athletic Complex, Hord Indoor Practice Facility, Gosser Gymnasium, Kelly Hall Tennis Facility, The Hord Family Wrestling Center, the Montgomery-Haydon Soccer Field, the Joe Stewart-Houchens Insurance Group Fieldhouse and most recently the new Stadium Box at Finley Stadium. He has also overseen the addition, or reinstatement, of twelve athletic programs which has bolstered the student-athlete population from 300 student-athletes in 2001 to now over 900 student-athletes at the university.
Hollingsworth places great emphasis on academic success for student-athletes and has been a strong advocate for the NAIA Champions of Character initiative. At the national level, twenty-two of Campbellsville’s twenty-six team or individual national championships have been won during his time at Campbellsville. In 2015-2016 Campbellsville finished number thirteen in the Learfield Directors’ Cup and number twenty-one in 2016-2017, both the highest in school history.
In 2011, Hollingsworth was named the Under Armour NAIA Southeast Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics. He was named the Mid-South Conference Athletic Director of the Year three times in 2004, 2010 and 2015.
His service on national committees at both the NAIA and NCCAA has been extensive. At the NAIA, he served on the initial Champions of Character Committee, the Athletic Administrators Committee, and the National Administrative Council, and for six years, served as the Chair of NAIA Region XI. He currently serves on the NCCAA National Eligibility Committee, a position he has held for ten years.
In 2018, Hollingsworth assumed a dual role as Vice President for Student Services and Athletics. With the addition of Student Services, he now oversees Athletics, Residence Life, Counseling, Safety and Security, Student Activities and Intramurals, Campus Ministries, Center for Global Engagement, the Wellness Center, Church Outreach and the Student Center Coordinator.
Prior to his appointment at Campbellsville University, he served for two years as the Director of Financial Aid and Dean of Students at Tennessee Wesleyan College in Athens, TN. He also served for ten years in enrollment services (6 Admissions and 4 Financial aid) at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, TN.
Hollingsworth resides in Green County, Kentucky, on his twenty-one-acre farm with his wife of 33 years, Beth. They have three grown children who have all remained in the area. Rusty and Beth also have three grandsons.
Rusty serves as an elder at The Vineyard Church in Campbellsville.
Rusty’s favorite quote is by J.J. Watt: “Success isn’t owned. It’s leased, and the rent is due every day.”