EIU Hires Two on Panthers Athletics Staff

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois Director of Athletics Tom Michael has announced the hiring of two administrative positions on the Panthers Athletics staff.   Former EIU All-American wide receiver Erik Lora has been hired as the Assistant Athletic Director for Development while Kiersten Klekner-Alt has been hired as the Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance.  

Lora comes to EIU following two years working at Charter Schools of America in Miami, Fla.  In that role he worked in business and technology education helping to promote leadership and activities for more than 175 students per day.  Lora earned his degree in Kinesiology and Sports Studies from EIU in 2014 with a minor in business administration.  He was a two-time first team All-American on the football field earning OVC Player of the Year & OVC Male Athlete of the Year honors in 2011.  He ended his career as the conference and school record holder in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown receptions.  He set the NCAA FCS record for single season receptions as a junior and in his final game at EIU set the NCAA FCS record for receptions in a playoff game.  Following his playing days at EIU, Lora signed professional contracts in the National Football League with the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars.  He worked as the marketing manager and sales representative for Everything Pools and Construction in Miami from 2014-15 increasing sales by 25 percent.  Before embarking on his career as an educator, Lora worked as a brand ambassador and ski/snowboard instructor at Winter Park Resort in Colorado.

“We are excited to welcome back Erik to Eastern Illinois,” said Michael.  “Having been a former student-athlete at Eastern Illinois he knows how to tell our story about what makes EIU a special place.  Erik has the type of personality and demeanor that will make it easy for him to sit down and relate to our former student-athletes, donors and fans.”

Klekner-Alt comes to EIU following two years working in the compliance office at Southern Illinois after working one year as a student-athlete monitor/tutor at SIU.  At SIU she worked in several areas of the compliance department from transcript assessment to compliance with NCAA, conference and university rules.  A former collegiate golfer at universities in both the United States and Canada, she earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Ottawa in 2015.  Klekner-Alt recently completed her juris doctor from SIU in May and will take the bar exam this summer.  She has previous work experience as an human resources assistant at the Department of Justice in Ottawa and a Legal Intern at Picard Law in Ottawa.  While playing golf at Gannon University in Pennsylvania she worked as an administrative assistant in academics.  In addition to her administrative work, Klekner-Alt worked as an assistant golf coach at SIU the last three seasons and worked as an Alpine Ski Instructor from 2008-15 in Chelsea, Quebec.

“Kiersten comes to EIU after working recently in the compliance office at Southern Illinois,” said Michael.  “She is a former student-athlete who recently completed her law degree at SIU allowing her to understand the administrative, legal and athletic sides of compliance issues.”

Lora will join the EIU staff on July 9 while Klekner-Alt will start at EIU on July 30.