Jordan Modjeski selected for Division III Emerging Elite Program
Jordan Modjeski, the CSB+SJU assistant director of athletic communications, has been selected for the third annual NCAA Division III Athletic Communicators Emerging Elite Program.
Jordan Modjeski, the CSB+SJU assistant director of athletic communications, has been selected for the third annual NCAA Division III Athletic Communicators Emerging Elite Program.
The initiative is held each December at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis. The program supports the advancement of the next generation of athletics communication leaders in DIII and is designed for participants to engage in a series of leadership sessions, team-management and collaboration exercises, discussions on the evolving landscape of athletics communication, in-person networking and skill-building workshops.
“I am proud of Jordan for continuing to establish herself as one of the best up-and-coming young professionals in the field, and her being chosen for this program just continues to prove that,” CSB Director of Athletic Communications Meredith Mahoney stated in a CSB Athletics news release on Nov. 2. “As someone that had the honor to be in the inaugural class of 2024, I know she will come away with great knowledge that will not only help her but will continue to grow our athletic communications departments and CSB and SJU.”
SJU Director of Athletic Communications Ryan Klinkner echoed Mahoney’s praise.
“Jordan has played an instrumental role in elevating the St. John’s Athletics brand,” Klinkner said in a SJU Athletics news release on Nov. 4. “Her creativity, attention to detail and relentless pursuit of excellence has pushed St. John’s forward on a national level. It is no surprise she was chosen as one of the NCAA’s Emerging Elite, and it is a direct reflection of the standard she brings to our department every day.”
Modjeski said she is looking forward to connecting with many like-minded individuals.
“What’s most exciting to me is just getting to connect with people I do and don’t know,” Modjeski said. “I’m certainly excited for the social aspect but also to have tailored programming for my job will be really great.”
For Modjeski, she said it’s a great opportunity to showcase St. Ben’s, St. John’s and the MIAC on a national level.
“Any time that I can get our name and our brand out there, the better,” Modjeski said. “That will hopefully lead to more awards for our student athletes down the line, or more followers on social media.”
Modjeski has spent time at multiple MIAC institutions, graduating in 2022 from St. Mary’s University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sport Management and Marketing while also competing for the Cardinal women’s hockey team for four years.
The Michigan native served as an assistant and graduate assistant sports information director at Gustavus Adolphus College for three years before joining the CSB+SJU athletic departments in June of 2025. Modjeski completed her master’s degree in Sport Management at Minnesota State University-Mankato in the spring of 2024.
Modjeski’s path into athletic communications began with an interest in journalism. That interest carried over time while at St. Mary’s, where an assignment helped her discover a new career path.
“At St. Mary’s, [in] my sophomore year in my journalism class, we were given a box score and had to write a recap,” Modjeski said.
Being an athlete and knowing a recap had already been written about this event, Modjeski went right to the source to create her own product.
“I go and find the recap from Donny Nadeau, legendary St. Mary’s SID (Sports Information Director). I copied his format almost to a T, turned it in, and my professor’s like, ‘Jordan, you got to go start working for Donny. This was the best recap I’ve seen written,’” Modjeski said. “That was kind of my hack to getting in, and then once I did, I’m like, I wish someone would have told me when I was 17, 16 years old; that there’s a job for you in sports; that you can do all those things that you like to do.”
Modjeski said a big reason she decided to come to CSB+SJU was how she was treated as a visiting member of the Gustavus athletic communications staff.
“I give a lot of credit to Ryan Klinkner. He’s probably the main reason that I was pulled here,” Modjeski said. “The way he treated me when I was a guest and the way that everyone treated me when I was a guest certainly drew me in.”
Another deciding aspect was the opportunity to work with SJU football.
“The way that he [Klinkner] runs his office and the way that he runs the St. John’s football media was really impressive to me,” Modjeski said. “It doesn’t feel like a Division III program. It feels far more important. Every time I do anything for St. John’s football, it just feels far bigger than I am.”
Add in the ability to work with women’s programs as well and Modjeski said she was hooked.
“St. Ben’s was an added bonus,” Modjeski said. “I’m very passionate about women’s athletics, and that’s really important to me.”
While working in athletics is an around-the-clock gig, Modjeski said there are plenty of rewarding moments along the way.
“Sometimes we do get emails from parents saying, ‘hey, this is wrong,’ and sometimes that can be a headache, but then you get an email from grandma that says, ‘hey, I just want to let you know that picture you took of my grandson is on my fridge, and it’s really important to me.’ That’s a really cool thing that I’m able to provide for people,” Modjeski said.
Modjeski also noted that being able to mentor student workers is something she takes pride in.
“That’s a very rewarding piece for me to mentor people that want to be in this field and see them succeed in the field afterwards,” Modjeski said. “That’s one of the most important things that I can do in this job.”
Modjeski has rolled in a plethora of awards and honors including 55 College Sports Communicator awards, being named the Division III Photographer of the Year the past two years and her photo portfolio was named third in the entire nation for 2025-26.
Modjeski was also honored as the Division III Graphic Designer of the Year for 2024-25 and was awarded CSC’s 30 Under 30 Award in 2024.
Despite the personal achievements, Modjeski said the most important thing to her is growing the CSB+SJU name.
“It’s not necessarily about my name being there as many times as possible, but it’s that St. John’s and St. Ben’s is,” Modjeski said. “The goal is that when the lists come out for the institutions that won the most awards, yeah, you’re going to have names like USC, Clemson and LSU, but I want the next name to be CSB+SJU.”
