Kevin DeMarrais' career path began as an undergrad at Columbia, starting as a work-study employee of the the sports information office. He also wrote for Spectator and played on the lightweight football team.
In 1965, he began his 19-year tenure, with a two-year hiatus while serving in the Army from 1966-68, as Director of Sports Information at his alma mater. DeMarrais earned numerous awards promoting Columbia's teams, including the National Award for Editorial Excellence for the Best College Football Program/Magazine six times and another for Outstanding Special Project for the Football Centennial Promotion in 1971.
DeMarrais covered and promoted some of the premiere teams and student-athletes in Columbia's history, including the 1968 Ivy League men's basketball championship squad and the 1979 men's soccer team that reached the NCAA title game. He also was a mentor to fellow Columbia Athletics Hall of Famer, Bill Steinman.
In addition to his duties at Columbia, DeMarrais served in a number of other sports capacities and was cited often for his work. DeMarrais was a member of the New York Jets statistical staff and worked on the New York Cosmos press box staff. He was the publicity coordinator for the Ivy League from 1978-84, served three terms as chairman of the League's Director of Sports Information, and is a former president of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors. In 1974, DeMarrais received the ECAC Service Bureau Cooperation Award for his contributions to the ECAC. Additionally, he worked for the United States Olympic Committee from 1981-84.
He left his post in April 1984 to become senior vice president at Sports Information Data Base. In 1986, he became a sportswriter for The Record and, after a stretch with Porter Novelli public relations, joined the business staff of the paper in 1992. DeMarrais continued for a decade to write a boating column for the sports section.
He still continues to be an avid supporter of the athletics program and contributes feature content to the Columbia football game day program.
