GU grad credits college experiences for career success, faith growth

Published: September 25, 2025

Author: Dave Bell

As a standout student-athlete at Greenville University, Hannah (Krukewitt) Eberhard ’20 was a blur of activity.

She was a forward on the Panther basketball team, a leader in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a double major in marketing and sport management, an intern in the marketing department, and she held part-time jobs at the campus recreation center and a local coffee shop.

“I was a pretty driven individual,” she said. “I just couldn’t sit still. As a result, I gained a lot of valuable experience while I was in college – especially doing sport-related jobs.”

Although she attended Greenville University for only two years (after completing her freshman and sophomore years at a community college near her home), she made the most of her time on the GU campus. In fact, to complete her double major, she regularly took 19 or 20 credit hours each semester.

"Hannah is an amazing individual,” said Roy Mulholland, GU women’s basketball coach. “She came to Greenville in her junior year and made an immediate impact on our team, both on and off the court. While we valued her basketball skills, it was really her character and her willingness to put others first that had the greatest impact. When you combine a dynamic faith, a great work ethic, and a team-first attitude, you get the total package. That was Hannah.”

Now, five years removed from her time at GU and living in Evansville, IN, she still thrives on living life in the fast lane. She’s married, and she and her husband, Adam, have a 1-year-old son named Max. For the past six months, she’s worked as a sales associate for the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, where she and her colleagues work to attract businesses and residents to the greater Evansville area. Her husband is a business development representative for a bank in Evansville.

“This job is different from the two I’ve held since college in that it’s not athletic-oriented,” said Eberhard, a native of Ipava, a farming community in northwest Illinois, where her father was a minister and her mother was a teacher. “But we’re still doing marketing and promoting our brand.”

She was introduced to Evansville (and Adam) soon after graduating from GU when she secured an internship at the University of Evansville during the 2020-2021 academic year. Adam was raised in that area, played basketball for Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY, and was back from playing professional basketball in Europe when they met.

After that, she moved to Knoxville, TN, to pursue a master’s degree in recreation and sport management at the University of Tennessee. While there, she served as a student intern in the UT athletic ticket office. “The Lord provided a way for me to experience a large school,” Eberhard said. “I learned a lot about raising revenue to fund programs and events.”

Then, in June 2023, she was hired as a senior associate athletic director at the University of Illinois at Springfield. In that role, she was the number two administrator in the athletic department. She and Adam were married in September 2023, and they moved to Evansville early this year.

“In each step of my career, I’ve been able to thrive because of the things I learned at Greenville,” Eberhard said. “My college years were such a formative time for me, largely because I received incredible support from my coaches and professors. I learned time management, the value of hard work, how to persevere when things get tough, and how to respond when I’m put in leadership positions. In our business classes, we had several guest speakers, and their advice prepared me to succeed in the job market.”

Professor Jane Bell, who taught Hannah in several sport management and marketing classes, said she was unique in the way she jumped into activities as a transfer student. “She demonstrated that a transfer student can make a big difference here – if they’re willing to get involved and embrace all the experiences available to them.”

Eberhard acknowledges that her broad education and meaningful experiences at GU helped her advance quickly in her career. However, it was the faith component of her education that had the most significant impact on her life.

“Greenville University changed me in so many ways – but especially as a believer,” she said. “It was there that I had opportunities to grow my relationship with Jesus. And that has given me the stability to weather all the changes and challenges I’ve faced since college.”