NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Southern Connecticut State University Director of Athletics Chris Barker will be honored before the start of the Hartford Yard Goats game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Thursday, July 15 at 7 p.m. at Dunkin Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn. Thursday night's game at Dunkin Donuts Park will also be a celebration of Negro League Baseball and will feature the Josh Gibson Foundation.

Barker joined the Owls on June 15, 2021 as its sixth director of athletics and the first African American in the position in school history. Barker played baseball at Madison College and UNC-Greensboro. Barker's father, also Chris, was drafted by the Cleveland Indians out of high school in the 1978 Major League Baseball Draft.

Barker went on to coach at Delaware State for three years before starting his career in athletic administration as the director of athletic operations, and later as assistant director of athletics, at Carthage College. From Carthage, he moved on Wisconsin-Parkside, where he ascended the organization charts to the position of deputy director of athletics prior to joining Southern Connecticut.