CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Queens University of Charlotte Athletics has announced several staff updates within the Office of Communications and Creative Content, highlighted by promotions for Phylicia Short and Chloe Burdette and the additions of Reece Helms and Micah DiFoggio to the athletic communications staff.
Short has been promoted to associate athletic director for communications, while Burdette has been promoted to associate director for athletic communications. Helms joins the Royals as an assistant director of athletic communications, while DiFoggio joins the department as an athletic communications graduate assistant.
"I'm excited to welcome Reece Helms and Micah DiFoggio to our staff this season, alongside Angel Maldonado, who joined us this summer," said Short. "Our office has a strong history of developing talented professionals who have gone on to achieve great success in the industry, and we're excited to add another group eager to grow in the field.
"Chloe has also emerged as an outstanding leader throughout our reclassification process. Her work continues to elevate each year, and the growth and engagement across our social media platforms reflect her impact. I look forward to continuing to tell the stories of Queens Athletics and its student-athletes, coaches, and staff alongside Chloe, Angel, Reece, and Micah."
SHORT PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Short is entering her 19th season on the Royals' staff, having seen the department grow tremendously in that time in sport sponsorship, staff, and student-athlete population. She has been instrumental in developing growth strategy plans for the Queens Athletics brand through storytelling across multiple media platforms. Her forward thinking and innovation have kept the Royals ahead of the curve and able to adapt to changes over the years, as athletics communications offices have had to shift to telling their own stories. This included building and implementing a social media strategy that puts the Royals' stories right into the hands of its fans, helping to establish the Queens Sports Network in its grassroots stages, designing multiple websites that keep consistent with current design trends, and putting together a passionate and skilled staff that believes in the work they are doing each and every day.
During the reclassification process, Short led all communications and social media efforts for the athletic department. In just year one, queensathletics.com visitors increased nearly 40%. Additionally, the Royals saw 70 straight weeks of growth in followers on social media. Total impressions across all the Royals' social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram increased by over 26% to over 17.6 million impressions. Queens' accounts also saw an increase in total engagements of nearly 50%, while the overall engagement rate sat at 4.5% (15% improvement). Since that time, Queens' social media followers have continued to grow at a steady pace along with total impressions, while the engagement rate across platforms has sat above annual industry benchmarks consistently.
Since her prior promotion to assistant athletic director in 2017, Short has served on the Queens Athletics Lead Team, contributing to the overall strategic plan for the department. She also served on the Queens NCAA Transition Committee, helping to gather and present historical data needed during the process, and is a member of the Queens and ASUN Hall of Fame Committees.
Additionally, Short led the creative teams' efforts in debuting the Royals' new logos that came along with the University's rebrand ahead of the 2023-24 season and helped in developing and leading the department's communications and marketing strategy following the Royals' first bid to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. During the NCAA Championship, the Royals totaled 6.4 billion impressions, over 680 print and online stories, and over 270 unique broadcasts.
BURDETTE PROMOTED TO ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Burdette joined the Royals in the fall of 2023, bringing her passion for storytelling, creativity and high energy to the department during a pivotal time in Queens' NCAA Division I reclassification. Prior to joining Queens, Burdette worked at the University of Virginia's College at Wise, where she gained experience in athletic communications and digital content.
During her time at UVA Wise, Burdette earned "Second in the Nation" honors in the annual College Sports Communicators Digital Design Contest for her winter sports statistical milestone graphic.
In her time with the Royals, she has grown into a key member of the athletic communications staff, taking on an expanding role in media relations, digital content, social media, feature storytelling and the day-to-day communications efforts surrounding Queens' student-athletes and teams.
Burdette currently serves as the primary media contact for four of the Royals' programs, including women's volleyball, men's and women's swimming and softball. In that role, she manages media relations, game coverage, recaps, publications and feature storytelling, working closely with coaches and student-athletes to highlight program success and provide comprehensive coverage across Queens Athletics.
Her work has been particularly impactful in chronicling the success of Queens' men's swimming and diving program, including its two-time ASUN championship run, helping raise the visibility of the program at the Division I level. She has also played an integral role in telling the stories of Queens' student-athletes through feature content, award nominations, postseason coverage and creative digital storytelling.
In addition to her traditional athletic communications responsibilities, Burdette has played a key role in developing social media strategy and digital content for the programs she covers. During the primary competitive seasons for those programs, her social media efforts generated more than 2.12 million impressions and 402,000 engagements. She has also created social media graphics and developed digital content strategies across team platforms, helping showcase student-athletes and program success while maintaining a consistent Queens Athletics brand.
As her role within the department has grown, Burdette has also taken on responsibility for overseeing the department's athletic communications interns, providing guidance and helping develop the next generation of athletic communications professionals. Her leadership extends beyond individual sport coverage as she continues to contribute to the department's broader communications and content efforts.
Burdette's work has also earned recognition within the national athletic communications profession. She serves on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Committee for Division I Baseball and Division I Men's Swimming, helping recognize top-performing student-athletes from across the country. In the summer of 2024, she was awarded the College Sports Communicators Convention Grant, supporting the organization's operations team on-site at its annual convention in Las Vegas. During the convention, Burdette also served as a featured panelist, sharing her experiences and practical insights with aspiring athletic communicators early in their careers.
HELMS JOINS ROYALS AS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Helms joined Queens in September 2026 as an assistant director for athletic communications and serves as the primary contact for men's basketball, men's soccer and golf.
Before joining the Royals, Helms spent three years at Charlotte from 2023-26, serving as the primary contact for women's basketball, volleyball and golf. In that role, he traveled with the respective programs, providing social media coverage, compiling press releases and game notes, and coordinating interviews.
Helms previously spent three years at Anderson University from 2020-23 as an assistant director for sports information, where he also oversaw broadcast operations. He began his collegiate athletic communications career at Coker University, earning his master's degree in College Athletic Administration while working as a graduate assistant in the media relations department.
Helms earned his bachelor's degree in Sports Management from Bob Jones University in 2019. A native of Monroe, N.C., Helms currently resides in his hometown.
"Thank you to Phylicia Short for this opportunity," said Helms. "Queens Athletics has an excellent reputation in the industry and I'm excited to join. I am looking forward to telling the story of Queens Men's Basketball, Men's Soccer and Golf."
DIFOGGIO JOINS ROYALS AS GRADUATE ASSISTANT
DiFoggio joins the Royals after gaining hands-on experience in sports marketing and communications with Carolina Core FC. During his time with the club, he contributed to digital content, social media, graphic design and game-day operations, developing a well-rounded background in sports communications and fan engagement.
With Carolina Core FC, DiFoggio designed and edited official game-day programs and promotional materials using Adobe InDesign and Canva, while also conceptualizing, scheduling and executing social media content across multiple platforms. He collaborated on video and graphic content designed to expand audience reach and maintain brand consistency, while also monitoring social media metrics to track campaign growth and community engagement.
DiFoggio earned a Bachelor of Administration in Sports with a minor in Sport History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Carolina Sport Administration Club.
"I couldn't be more excited to hit the ground running with Queens Athletics Communications! Getting the opportunity to cover track & field, cross country and baseball is an amazing opportunity, and I can't wait to start sharing the stories of our student-athletes and programs," said DiFoggio.
DiFoggio joins a communications staff that also welcomed Angel Maldonado this summer. Maldonado joined the Royals as an assistant director for athletic communications and was previously introduced by Queens Athletics in a separate announcement.
The staff updates come as Queens Athletics continues to expand its communications and creative content efforts alongside the continued growth of the Royals' NCAA Division I athletics program. With Short and Burdette stepping into expanded leadership roles and Helms and DiFoggio joining the department, the Office of Communications and Creative Content will continue to provide comprehensive coverage and storytelling for Queens' student-athletes, coaches and programs.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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