Hall of Fame
Sports Information Director 1973-'99, Assistant Baseball Coach 1973-'99, Assistant Basketball Coach 1973-'99, Assistant Athletic Director 1973-'99
Consistency is the price tag of leadership. From 1973-1999, Dennis Schroeder gladly paid the price as a teacher and a coach at Northwestern College. Without ever scoring a touchdown or hitting a homerun, Coach Schroeder left his mark on Eagle athletics through his quiet and efficient work behind the scenes and by just being there…all the time. In his twenty-six years as the college’s Sports Information Director and coach in basketball, baseball, tennis, and golf, Coach Schroeder never missed a football game, and attended all but one basketball game. He witnessed the first 244 football games Northwestern ever played, the fifth longest string for a Sports Information Director in any division of college athletics. In basketball he worked 445 consecutive games, a streak broken to attend his son’s wedding and then resumed for 289 more contests. Coach Schroeder’s faithfulness earned him national recognition in 1998 when he was presented the Twenty-Five Year Award by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
Energized by an unfailing devotion to Christ, Dennis lived out the same consistent excellence as a teacher. In his thirty-eight years in front of the chalkboard, he never missed a day because of illness. He and his wife, Joan, also displayed a never-ending care for students inside and outside the classroom that extended beyond graduation. Two special delights for the Schroeders were opening their home to students for Sunday meals and reuniting with former athletes on their return visits to campus. While not a Northwestern alum, Dennis continues to bleed purple in retirement as a recruiter of potential student-athletes in the Omaha, Nebraska area.
Inducted October 4, 2002
