How Temple alum Nadia Harvin reached nearly 30 years with Temple football

After starting her career at Temple University in 1979 as a student worker in the copy center of Ritter Hall, Nadia Batson Harvin, CLA ’06, remains at the university, five decades later. Harvin now serves as the executive assistant to the head football coach, a position she has held for nearly 30 years, working in the program for the last seven coaching regimes beginning with Bobby Wallace. 

She takes pride in establishing times to be present for Head Coach Stan Drayton and the more than 120 student-athletes on Temple’s football team. She helps Drayton stay on track with his weekly schedule and addresses calls, emails and other requests from parents, recruits and players. 

“For anybody who asks me how many children I have, I always say 120 and one biological,” she laughed. “You set expectations with the players to be responsible on and off the football field as if they are my children.”  

Nadia Batson Harvin as a Temple student attended the 1979 Garden State Bowl where the Owls defeated the California Golden Bears 28-17 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photography by Ryan S. Brandenberg) 

Harvin’s journey began in Tunapuna, a small town near Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. Her mother, Eileen Batson-Hodges, wanted her family to have new educational opportunities, so they moved to the United States to Long Island, New York.  

“My mom was always my biggest inspiration from her strength, fortitude and survival instincts as a single mother to bring my brother and I to the U.S.,” Harvin said. “For a woman who was only 4 foot, 9 inches tall, she had a lot of grit and her hard work and perseverance inspired me.”  

Harvin was involved in musical theater and naturally gravitated toward athletics, participating in bowling, basketball, softball and cheerleading in high school. Even though she had never visited Temple’s campus, she knew it was the place for her, and she enrolled at the university to study computer science in 1979.  

“Anytime someone asked what schools you have applied to, I would say, ‘No, I am going to Temple,’” she said. “I always wanted to go to a school in the city, I immediately fell in love with Temple.” 

She first stepped foot on campus during Orientation, registering for classes on the top floor gymnasium of Mitten Hall. She recalled, “I had to stand in several lines to pull cards from each class because you could not simply register for all your classes online as you can today.”  

Mike Higgins, who was on the Temple men’s bowling team, once spotted Harvin bowling recreationally in McGonigle Hall. He recommended that she try out for the Temple women’s bowling team, a scholarship sport at the time. Harvin, who had been honing her skills in bowling since the age of nine years old, made the Temple women’s bowling team where she lettered one year from 1981–1982. She finished with a 240 score in her first collegiate bowling competition against Penn State.  

“When I was first asked to try out for the women’s team, I said I don’t think so,” she recalled. “So, making the team as a walk-on was a great confidence booster for approaching new opportunities that came my way at Temple.”  

As part of her financial aid agreement, she was hired to work in the copy centers at Ritter Hall. She then transitioned to becoming a student worker for Temple men’s basketball, where she learned from Essie Davis, the team’s secretary who became the longest-tenured employee in the history of Temple basketball. This was in 1982, when, coincidentally, Basketball Hall of Fame Head Coach John Chaney had just been hired.  

“Essie was my mentor, who became my closest friend and confidant. I learned from her how to work for a legendary coach like Coach Chaney,” said Harvin. “I also learned about recruiting, dealing with parents, the public and the media, and treating student-athletes as your own from being around Essie and Coach Chaney.” 

Harvin took a break from college to work full time to support her son, Ramish, who was born in 1984, but that did not keep her away from Temple. The following year, she began working as a temporary worker for Earl Cleghorn, former associate athletic director, before earning a full-time position as a clerk-typist at Temple’s former Paley Library.  

In 1986, she transitioned to her first position working for Temple football as a secretary under former Temple Head Coach Bruce Arians, who became an executive and Super Bowl champion head coach in the NFL. Harvin assisted with recruiting duties and typing the coach’s playbooks for defense and special teams.

“As a woman, I would surprise a lot of people because I could explain to anybody the various responsibilities on defense for each player like for a ‘Mike’ or ‘Sam’ linebacker,” said Harvin. “At the time, I had to generate all the X’s and O’s and dotted lines for hundreds of play designs on a typewriter.”  

After Arians’ tenure, Harvin kept working as a secretary under head coaches Jerry Berndt and Ron Dickerson and resumed taking classes at Temple. She left the football program in 1996 to work in other positions at Temple, including administrative and secretary positions for the next eight years. 

But her heart still belonged to the gridiron, so Harvin rejoined the football program as an administrative specialist to Head Coach Bobby Wallace in 2004. She was also on the staff with former Head Coach Al Golden, who helped turn Temple’s fortunes around, as the football team once again became a winning program. She was on former Head Coach Matt Rhule’s staff, too, a team that is fondly remembered for upsetting Penn State 27-10 before a packed record crowd of 69,176 at Lincoln Financial Field.

“Under Coach Golden, I worked long hours, and there were times when I didn’t leave the office until 8 or 9 o’clock at night,” she said. “He was a great coach to work for though, and he looked out for us. The program was rejuvenated for several seasons after he came on board.” 

During Golden’s tenure, Harvin finally completed her bachelor’s degree in organizational studies from Temple in 2006. Most recently, she accomplished her greatest career achievement of being inducted into the prestigious Temple Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023.  

“It was a fantastic feeling, I didn’t expect it to come as soon as it did,” Harvin said. “I am truly proud of the 29 years I have dedicated to Temple football and the 39 years at Temple. 

“Temple alumni and Owls are everywhere because Temple prepares you for the world,” she added. “I am Temple Made and Temple proud. Even when I took time off, my presence was always and still is here at Temple.”