With Tara Owens' appointment as Director of Athletics at Maryland Eastern Shore, five of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's (MEAC) eight member institutions have female ADs.

In addition to Owens in Princess Anne, Md., Alecia Shields-Gadson is the Director of Athletics at Delaware State and Dena Freeman-Patton took over as AD at Morgan State back on June 1. Melody Webb is the Director of Athletics at Norfolk State, and South Carolina State basketball legend Keshia Campbell is serving on an interim basis at her alma mater.

All five are also former student-athletes.

Owens spent four years as Director of Athletics at Central State, and she was previously also AD at Baltimore City Community College. Her athletics administration career also includes coaching stints in women's basketball at Norfolk State, Elizabeth City State and Cheyney University. She played basketball at Virginia State, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in physical education/health. Owens later earned a Master's in administration and supervision at Cheyney and a Certificate in Diversity and Indclusion from Cornell.

Shields-Gadson had served as interim AD on a couple occasions at Delaware State, having the interim tag removed in August 2021. She had joined the Hornets in 2016 to serve as Senior Associate Director of Athletics for Compliance/Senior Woman Administrator, and prior to arriving in Dover, Del., she was Deputy Director of Athletics/SWA at Coppin State. Shields-Gadson also worked at Alcorn State -- where she earned a Master's in athletic administration and secondary education/physical education -- and she was a track & field student-athlete at Southern, where she earned a Bachelor's in English/communications.

Freeman-Patton came to Morgan State from Cal State Dominquez Hills, where she served as Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics. A native of Baltimore, Md., Freeman-Patton was a three-sport star in high school and played basketball at Liberty University. In addition to her Bachelor's degree in sports management from Liberty, Freeman-Patton also has a Master's degree in sports administration from Georgia State.

Webb took over the Spartans' athletic department in July 2020 after serving six years as Norfolk State's Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration/Senior Woman Administrator. She is the ninth AD in Norfolk State history and the first woman to hold that role. Her athletics administration career also includes stints at Elizabeth City State, Maryland, George Washington and the CIAA conference office. Webb was a four-year volleyball letterwinner at Savannah State, where she earned a Bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting. She also played basketball and was on the track & field team at Savannah State, and she later earned her Master's in public administration from Bowie State.

Campbell is one of the most decorated athletes in South Carolina State history, where she was a basketball student-athlete and the 1991 MEAC Player of the Year. Campbell, a South Carolina State Hall of Famer, was later named MEAC Coach of the Year in 2001 as the bench boss for her Lady Bulldogs. The Blenheim, S.C. native was head coach in Orangeburg for seven seasons, and she earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from South Carolina State. Campbell was previously the Director of Athletics at Hampton University, and her career also includes stops at the CIAA and NCAA offices, as well as the University of Texas at Dallas.