University of Pennsylvania. Office of Athletic Communications.

The University of Pennsylvania's Department of Athletic Communications, originally titled the Department of Athletic Publicity, was founded as a subdivision of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics on July 1, 1924. Its main duties, which have remained basically the same since its inception, are to act as a liaison to the media, to prepare press releases, to distribute press credentials for athletic contests, and to arrange interviews with athletes and coaches at the University.

Penn became only the second college to name a Sports Publicity Director (Notre Dame was the first) when it selected Joseph T. Labrum, a 1921 graduate of the College, as the initial head of the department. Edward J. Hunter succeeded Labrum, but in 1950 his position was renamed Assistant Director, News Bureau - Athletic Information. However, this change in title did not affect Hunter's duties or the fact that his department still operated under the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The department, still a subdivision of the Department of Athletic Communications, is today known as the Department of Athletic Communications.