{"id":5766,"date":"2025-07-28T08:50:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T12:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/?p=5766"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:21:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T19:21:37","slug":"erick-camodeca-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.goucher.edu\/magazine\/erick-camodeca-06\/","title":{"rendered":"Erick Camodeca \u201906"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year, Erick Camodeca \u201906<\/strong><\/span> marked his fourth season at Goucher as the cross-country head coach and his sixth season as the track & field head coach. Now, he is embarking on a new challenge: taking on the role of <\/span>athletics philanthropy officer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Being a part of athletics at Goucher at every level, from student to coach to director, Camodeca has seen his relationship to the college<\/span> change, but his love for Goucher has not wavered. \u201cMy understanding of the world was shaped by my foundation at Goucher,\u201d he says. \u201cMy experience has been transformational, from the beginning to wherever the end may be.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Camodeca\u2019s move at seven years old from Miami, FL, to Pottsville, PA, was a culture shock. He hoped to meld the two in looking for a college, finding somewhere that had a diverse small-town community with everything a larger city offers. Then Goucher reached out to recruit Camodeca to play soccer. \u201cMy fall overnight visit changed my world,\u201d he says. He was impressed with the way they treated and engaged him. <\/span>With Baltimore so close by, Goucher had everything he was looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n

During his first year at the college, Camodeca took a seminar with Professor Angelo Robinson, who asked a question that has remained with him: \u201cWhen was the first time you realized you were different from everyone else?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHaving assimilated in Pennsylvania, this question sent me off on this incredible journey of reflection on everything I was doing,\u201d he says. \u201cBefore that, I was just going through life thinking about sports, doing what I needed without putting too much thought into it. At the time, I had no idea what I was going to major in.\u201d With Robinson as his advisor, he chose American studies. \u201cIt touched on so many things I was interested in and allowed me to explore my identity as a Black male.\u201d He also became one of the first students to graduate with an Africana studies minor at the college. Thanks to his coursework, Camodeca was able to intern at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From coaches to friends to professors, Camodeca had a strong support system. \u201cIt was an all-in effort, and everyone was looking out for me,\u201d he says. This carried on after graduation, as Robinson and former Professor Emerita Kelly Brown Douglas P \u201919 even attended his wedding\u2014with Robinson giving a reading and Douglas performing the ceremony. Camodeca has lived in the Baltimore area for more than 20 years now, and when he\u2019s off the athletics field, he can usually be found near water, on a boat, fishing, or swimming in spots across Maryland, like in Middle River and on the Eastern Shore. \u00a0\u201cMaybe it\u2019s my attempt to reconnect with Miami!\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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