Green Wave Club Announces Restructuring, New Staff

NEW ORLEANS – The Development unit of Tulane Athletics announced a restructuring and additions to its Green Wave Club staff on Sunday.

They are as follows:

*Jacob Watson has been promoted to Assistant AD for Annual Giving
*Reagan Killian has been named Assistant AD for Events, Donor Engagement and Stewardship
*Payne He'Bert moves over from the Green Wave's Student-Athlete Enhancement office and will now serve as the Assistant Director of Development

Mike Miller's promotion to Associate AD for Revenue Generation was announced in July.

Jacob Watson
Watson will be responsible for leading the unit's annual giving program, including oversight of Green Wave Club solicitation strategy, donor retention, donor acquisition, and stewardship. He will also oversee the Tulane Letterwinners Association.

Watson joined Tulane as Assistant Director of Development in July 2022. In his previous role, he maintained daily internal operations for the Green Wave Club, while soliciting annual fund and major gift donations in support of Tulane Athletics' 17 varsity programs.

Since arriving in Uptown, Watson has played a key role in the Green Wave Club's strongest two annual fund years to date in fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024. He also led the department's efforts around Give Green, Tulane's university-wide day of giving, which resulted in the largest number of gifts, dollars raised, first-time donors, and first-time dollars in support of Athletics since the inception of Give Green. In 2024, he oversaw the renewed vision of the Tulane Letterwinners Association, where every former student-athlete is automatically recognized as a Tulane Letterwinners Association member upon departure from Tulane, resulting in membership increasing by over 4,000 members.

Watson earned his bachelor's degree in Sport Management from Eastern Kentucky University in 2020. Afterwards, he went on to earn his master's degree in Sport Administration from the University of Louisville in 2022. While attending Louisville, he was the President of the UofL Sport Administration Association and a member of the Louisville Athletics Internship Program, working in both development and compliance.

Reagan Killian
Killian is responsible for all Green Wave Club and Olive & Blue Society development events, engaging Tulane Athletics supporters both locally and across the country. Additionally, she will support fundraising efforts by overseeing Green Wave Club and Olive & Blue Society member stewardship. Along with events and stewardship, Killian will manage the Green Wave Club's hospitality areas at Football, Men's and Women's Basketball and Baseball games.

She arrives after having worked as the Donor Relations Manager at Son of a Saint, a leading non-profit in New Orleans. During her time there, she was involved with all donor events, stewardship efforts and managed a portfolio of donors.

Prior to her time at Son of a Saint, Killian spent several years with the LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation serving as the Director of Events and Engagement. During her tenure, she played a key role in coordinating all donor events for The Oaks, TAF's Major Giving Society, as well as their Team TAF Annual Fund events. Additionally, she worked closely with LSU Men's Basketball, by coordinating all aspects of their sport specific booster club, as well as fundraising nearly $550,000 for the LSU Baseball team from 2023-24 at their First Pitch Banquet, a fundraising record at the time. She also broke two more fundraising records in 2022 ($66,000) and 2023 ($71,000) at the President's Cup Golf Tournament which benefits LSU Men's and Women's Golf. She was fortunate enough to be a part of two National Championships, LSU Baseball and LSU Women's Basketball, during her time there. Outside of her day-to-day job responsibilities, she was chosen to participate in the LSU Athletics Emerging Leaders Program and the LSU Athletics Professional Excellence Program. Lastly, she was a finalist for the 2024 NAADD Rising Star Award.

Prior to joining LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation, Killian obtained her master's degree in Strategic Communication from Texas Christian University while serving as a Graduate Assistant in the TCU Athletics Events and Facilites Department. As a GA, she acted as the primary game operations manager for all Women's Soccer games and Equestrian meets and served as an Assistant Game Manager for Football, where she was the visiting team liaison for all home games, as well as Men's and Women's Basketball, and Baseball. Additionally, she assisted with special events in premium areas at Amon G. Carter Stadium and Ed and Rae Schollmaier Arena. During her time there, she had the opportunity to celebrate two Big 12 Championships with the TCU Women's Soccer program.

Killian earned her bachelor's degree in Sport Management from Texas A&M University in College Station in 2019. During her junior year at Texas A&M, she began her career in athletics as a student-worker in their Gameday Operations and Event Management department.

Killian is a native of Columbus, Texas, and is married to Richard Killian II. The couple have two pups, Archie and Roux.

Payne He'Bert
He'Bert is a native of Pearland, Texas and brings a strong background in development, student-athlete engagement, and community outreach.

He'Bert has supported numerous fundraising efforts, collaborating with Tulane Athletics' development and ticketing teams, engaging donors, and contributing to key events like the Hall of Fame ceremony and Sophomore Salute. During the 2024 Tulane Football season, He'Bert staffed the Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Family Club on gamedays, as well as assisting with pregame donor hospitality. He is also a participant in the 2025 NCAA and NAADD Foundations of Fundraising Program, gaining valuable fundraising insights from experts at The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and The Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy.

He'Bert holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Business Institutions from Northwestern University, where he earned three Academic All-Big Ten awards as a student-athlete. He completed a Master's in Public Administration and a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Administration and Leadership from the University of Texas at San Antonio, graduating in the top 10% of his class, earning Pi Alpha Alpha membership, and receiving the 2024 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar Award. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Sports Studies and a graduate certificate in Sport Administration at Tulane, maintaining a 4.00 GPA.

A former Division I football player, He'Bert played four years at Northwestern and two years at UTSA as an offensive lineman. His discipline, teamwork, and leadership on the field have shaped his ability to connect with student-athletes, fans, donors, and stakeholders in collegiate athletics. He is passionate about leveraging his skills to make a meaningful impact in development at Tulane University.

"Restructuring the Green Wave Club team has presented an exciting opportunity to ensure our staff makeup aligns with our priorities of creating sustainable philanthropic growth for Tulane Athletics and engaging our supporters coast-to-coast. For thousands of our donors, letterwinners and alumni, our team serves as the face of Tulane Athletics, which is an awesome responsibility," said Justin Berger, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development. "What I am most excited about, and what will become clear to our alumni, donors, and friends across the country, is that not only is each member of our team a talented development professional in their own right, but they're good people. Roll Wave!"

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out our story at NolaBuilt.com.

Tulane University Athletics

Green Wave Club Announces Restructuring, New Staff

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