Matthew Farris enters his second year as the Assistant Athletic Director of Strategic Communication for Gardner-Webb Athletics after being named to the position in August 2024.
Farris joined the Gardner-Webb family after three years as the Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations at Limestone University. While at Limestone, Farris was the primary contact for all 25 Saints sports where he oversaw all media publications from media guides, game notes, releases, interviews, while maintaining the athletics website. Farris also oversaw a team of student workers and game day staff.
Prior to Limestone, Farris spent three seasons at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C.. As the Sports Information Director, Farris was the primary contact for all 13 Valkyrie sports. He also worked closely with the student-athlete end of the year award banquet. Farris also managed the athletic communication budget and helped collaborate on the new design for govalkyries.com.
In his first professional role post-graduation, Farris was the Assistant Sports Information Director at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, N.C and was the primary contact for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball, and volleyball.
While at Mars Hill, Farris helped to manage game programs and all media publications from print to digital. Farris also helped to oversee a team of student workers and game day staff and collaborated on a new design for the official Mars Hill Lions website.
Farris graduated from Limestone College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management. During his time as an undergraduate, Farris worked closely with the athletic department. Starting as a camera operator and stats caller, Farris quickly made his way up to eventually covering his own sports for the Saints. He was a part of the back-to-back Limestone men’s lacrosse national championship teams in 2014 and 2015, as well as the inaugural Limestone football team.
Farris is a 12-year United States Army veteran that saw deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Matthew and his wife Holly live in neighboring Boiling Springs, S.C. They have three children, Mattison (14), Makenna (13), and Miccah (10).
