Bill Morgal ’06/’10M is in his 17th year as the sports information director at Shippensburg University in 2024-25.
Morgal is a non-represented manager in Shippensburg University's Office of Communications & Marketing. He is the primary contact for Shippensburg University athletic media relations and steers the publicity efforts for the university's 20 intercollegiate athletics teams. He is also a spokesperson and a media liaison for athletics-related inquiries on behalf of the university.
The Shippensburg University sports information office is responsible for myriad duties. Morgal leads this effort while supervising and working alongside a team of colleagues that includes a full-time assistant, two graduate assistants, and approximately 14-18 undergraduate student workers.
Morgal serves as the lead editor of Shippensburg University's athletics website (shipraiders.com), the public-facing home for all information related to the Raiders. Among the daily maintenance of the website includes posting the latest scores, results, schedules and press releases along with photo galleries and highlight videos. The website also includes updated biographical information of more than 375 student-athletes as well as team archives and statistical records that date back more than 70 years.
During his tenure, Morgal installed two outward-facing entities that are now integral to the promotional efforts of the athletic department: live video of athletic events, and social media channels.
At Shippensburg, the sports information office is responsible for a live broadcast of every home athletic event held on campus, which airs on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Network. Morgal established consistent live video streaming of athletic events in the fall of 2016 and has worked to maintain a credible infrastructure to support this endeavour. In 2023-24, the office produced a league-leading 186 broadcasts that totaled more than 100,000 plays.
The sports information office is also responsible for daily maintenance of the official social media channels for Shippensburg University Athletics, including accounts with Instagram, YouTube, X, Facebook and Tiktok that have a combined 23,000 followers. Morgal works directly with student employees in an attempt to fulfill the vision for publicity in this medium while also trying to evolve and keep up-to-date with trends and industry expectations. Under the direction of graduate assistant Pearllan Cipriano '23M, who is now the sports information director at Bard College, the SU sports information office created team-specific Instagram accounts in 2022 that afford an opportunity for direct interaction with each intercollegiate athletic program.
Among the prominent publicity efforts undertaken by Morgal's sports information office include the successful promotion of Shippensburg University football quarterback Zach Zulli, who in 2012 became just the third Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) player and just the seventh underclassman in history to win the prestigious Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II’s top football player. Morgal collaborated with graduate assistant Kevin Kline '13M, who is currently in his third season as the director of social media for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League.
Professionally, Morgal has spent six years as the Atlantic Region's coordinator of awards for the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association (D2CCA) Women's Basketball All-Region and All-America Teams. He has also served for nearly a decade as an Atlantic Region poll voter and all-region team voter for the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Other university communications and marketing responsibilities for Morgal include his roles as an associate editor of the Shippensburg University Magazine and as the chair of the Shippensburg University Athletics Hall of Fame Committee.
Morgal and Cipriano served as the official statisticians of the 2022 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships in Seattle, Washington. Individually, Morgal has served as the host sports information director for three NCAA Championships football games (2009, 2012, 2017), four NCAA Championships field hockey games (2009, 2011, 2017, 2018) and 14 PSAC Championship matches/trophy-awarding tournaments (2009 football, 2009 field hockey, 2010 men’s soccer, 2011 field hockey, 2013 volleyball, 2014 outdoor track & field, 2017 field hockey, 2017 women's basketball, 2020 men's basketball, 2021 field hockey, 2021 outdoor track & field, 2023 men's basketball, 2023 volleyball, 2024 outdoor track & field). He also provides annual assistance to neutral-site conference tournaments, including more than a decade as a liaison and worker at the PSAC Swimming Championships.
In 2023, Morgal was honored with the prestigious 2023 Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award by the Eastern Athletic Communications Association (EAST-COMM, formerly ECAC-SIDA). The award is given annually to one or two individuals who, in the opinion of the EAST-COMM membership and executive board, have exhibited excellence in the field of athletic communications. Morgal became the ninth sports information director from a PSAC member school to be recognized as a Marsh Service Bureau Award winner since the award's inception in 1966.
In 2014, Morgal received the inaugural Division II Excellence in Communications Award by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The award recognized Morgal for coverage of the SU track & field teams in addition to coverage and content that provided exposure for track & field athletes throughout the PSAC.
Morgal is a dues-paying member of both College Sports Communicators (CSC) and EAST-COMM. He was elected to serve as EAST-COMM's Second Vice President in 2024-25, which will mark his fifth year and second tenure on the organization's executive board after previous serving as its Charities Chair (2017-18, 2018-19) and its Vendor Relations/Marketing Chair (2019-20, 2020-21). He has also served as the President (2015-16, 2016-17), Vice President (2013-14, 2014-15) and Secretary (2011-12, 2012-13) of the PSAC Sports Information Directors.
CSC has recognized Morgal and his SU communications & marketing colleagues for award-winning work. Among the highlights include Morgal, designer Jess Kline and photographer Bill Smith being recognized in 2011 for producing the No. 1 At-Large (College Division) Media Guide in the country (SU’s Field Hockey guide), along with Morgal and Smith recognized in 2017 for producing the District 2 General Feature of the Year ("Seeking an Escape...Through Yoga") in the Fred Stabley Jr. Writing Contest.
Morgal's first two years as a Shippensburg University staff member were spent as the interim sports information director (2008-09 and 2009-10). The interim tag was removed from his title in July 2010 after the completion of an official university search process. During his tenure as the interim sports information director, Morgal was named the 2009-10 "Raider of the Year," an honor that recognizes an active participant in supporting Shippensburg athletics.
The 2024-25 academic year is Morgal's 21st at Shippensburg University when including his stint as a sports information graduate assistant (2007-08) and as a sports information undergraduate student employee (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07). He was afforded his first opportunity to work in the profession by his mentor Jason Eichelberger, Shippensburg's sports information director from 2004-08. As an undergraduate, Morgal worked alongside Eichelberger (currently at McDaniel College) and graduate assistants Brooke Frederickson (longtime SID at Utah) and Ethan Hulsey (currently in his 17th year as Millersville's SID). Among Morgal's undergraduate experiences include roles as the public address announcer at the 2006 Division II Field Hockey National Championships in Pensacola and the 2008 NCAA Division II Lacrosse Championships in Houston.
Morgal graduated cum laude from Shippensburg in December 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in communications/journalism and a concentration in print media while minoring in English. He received his master’s degree in communications studies from Shippensburg in May 2010. He is also a proud alumnus of Howard Community College (May 2004) and Long Reach High School (May 2002).
A native of Elkridge, Maryland, Morgal currently resides in Newville.
