After serving his first 18 months as the Assistant Athletics Director for Compliance and Student-Athlete Success at UNC Pembroke, Patrick Sterk assumed the title of Interim Athletic Director from November 2012 through May 2013 during the department’s transition. In May 2013 with the appointment of Dick Christy as the ninth Director of Athletics for UNCP, Sterk returned to his role of Assistant Athletics Director.

While at UNCP, Sterk has been responsible for all compliance matters related to UNCP’s 16 athletic teams as well as the institution as a whole. It has been Sterk’s responsibility to ensure that all 13 UNCP coaches and nearly 400 student-athletes are aware of and in compliance with institutional, conference, and NCAA policies and standards. He has represented the institution at Peach Belt Conference and national conferences and has worked with UNCP coaches, student-athletes, and staff to improve operations and functions of the athletic program as a whole.

Sterk came to Pembroke from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisc., where he received his law degree in 2011. He was a member of the Marquette Sports Law Review, the Marquette Sports Law Society, and had an article published in the Sports Lawyers Journal regarding interscholastic athletics. Upon coming to UNCP, Sterk became the first full-time compliance officer within the UNCP athletic department.

In 2010, Sterk was hired to be the law clerk at the National Collegiate Athletic Association where he was tasked with drafting and implementing a comprehensive open records policy for the national office. While there, he handled numerous cease and desist proceedings to protect NCAA trademarks and copyrights, as well as worked on projects concerning antitrust law, torts, education law, and government legislation. Sterk also previously worked as a compliance intern at Lewis University, a Division II institution in Romeoville, Ill.

Sterk graduated with his bachelor’s degree in political science from Oklahoma in 2008 where he was a national merit scholar, a member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

Sterk and his wife, Suzanne, reside in Lumberton with their two guinea pigs, Winston and Trouble.