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MCC Daily Tribune Archive

MCC athletic director Shapiro to retire in 2010


Monroe Community College Athletic Director Murph Shapiro will retire in June after 19 years at the helm of one of the most successful community college athletic programs in the nation.

Shapiro has been affiliated with MCC for 40 years, serving as men’s basketball, softball, and women’s tennis coach while also teaching in the Health and Physical Education Department. He became athletic director on Sept. 1, 1991.

“For nearly two decades Murph Shapiro has shown tremendous dedication and leadership as the athletic director at Monroe Community College,” said Dr. Anne Kress, MCC’s president.  “He has been a terrific ambassador for the college and has fostered an environment in which our student-athletes can excel on the playing fields and in their classes.”

Under Shapiro MCC has experienced an unprecedented level of athletic success.  Tribune teams have won 99 regional and 13 national championships during his tenure as athletic director. The college has twice won the NATYCAA Cup (2006 and 2007), which is given annually to recognize overall athletic program excellence based on success in national competition. 

“Murph Shapiro has made enormous contributions to the college,” said Dr. Susan Salvador, MCC’s vice president of student services.  “He has led our athletic department to be recognized as one of, if not the best, community college athletic program in the United States.  I have been honored to work with him.”

Shapiro is well-known in the Rochester area for his work in athletics, especially in the sport of basketball.  He was a Section V All-Scholastic Team member for Franklin High after averaging nearly 20 points per game his senior year.  Shapiro received a full scholarship to Division I Miami (Fla.), where he helped lead the Hurricanes to the NCAA Tournament his sophomore year and the NIT his junior season.

His knowledge and passion for the game made him a perfect fit for coaching.  He led teams at Monroe and Eastridge High Schools before being hired by George Monagan, MCC’s first athletic director, to be the college’s basketball coach in 1969.

Shapiro’s teams were successful from the start as the Tribunes won 20 games his first season.  He won 20 or more seven other times, including his 1980 team that finished 31-6, won the regional championship, and advanced to the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.  He coached the Tribunes to a 329-113 record in his 16 years.

Along with coaching and teaching, Shapiro has been a well-known NCAA Division I basketball official.  He officiated in the Big East, Atlantic 10, and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferences and also worked a number of NCAA Tournaments.

Shapiro has received numerous honors for his tireless work in athletics over the years.  He is in the MCC Hall of Fame and is a member of the Frontier Field Walk of Fame.  He enjoyed one of his finest accolades as an administrator in 2000, when he was named Junior College Athletic Director of the Year for the Northeast Region by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

Shapiro’s impact stretches across the college.  His fingerprints can be seen on MCC’s softball diamond, John L. DiMarco Field, and most recently the PAC Center, the college’s state-of-the-art indoor athletic facility.

Dr. Susan Salvador
Student Services
11/16/2009