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AI Brings New Life to Past Hawk Achievements

Earlier this year, an alumnus found a way to merge the worlds of athletics and artificial intelligence (AI), creating a new tool for former and current Hartwick Hawks to be highlighted, remembered and celebrated.

Ken Ford ’94 is a member of the Hawks Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Committee. A former swimmer and two-time inductee, he was part of the newly inducted 1991–92 team, which produced Hartwick’s only perfect season, finishing 12-0 and capturing two conference championships along the way.

As Ford began reviewing the accomplishments of the candidates for this year’s class, he became frustrated by the difficulty of obtaining and sharing that information with his colleagues. He began to think there had to be a better way; then he created one.

“I realized that the same Hall of Fame ballots that were written with no more than a few paragraphs weren’t telling me, 30 years later, whether or not this person was worthy of induction,” he said.

Hartwick College Hall of Famer Ken Ford ’94

“My goal was to build a better ballot system so we could determine if they were true Hall of Famers.”

Ken Ford ’94

Hawks Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Committee

Ford, the president & founder of his own financial advisory firm, has watched society shift from consuming long-form print material to more succinct information. Indeed, those changing tendencies have given rise to the podcast – and that’s what Ford decided to build. However, knowing he had neither the time nor budget to produce it in reality, he incorporated an AI tool to do so instead.

Ford gathered all of the information the committee had, He searched for articles from The Wick, the college’s sports information archives and local papers, scanned dozens more, and added them all to an AI app, instructing it to create a podcast-style discussion about each candidate.

“My vision was to gather it all and tell their stories in a more compelling way,” he explained.

Not only did it work, but the quality surprised even Ford. Each podcast features a young man and woman having a conversation about each candidate, as if they had watched them in their prime and become experts on each. And, as people gathered in the Anderson Center for the Arts on Sept. 20 to celebrate the Class of 2025, the “duo” shared their expertise on each inductee, adding significance and emotion to the event.

In the future, Ford hopes this tool will become an add-on for all Hall of Fame members, allowing visitors to hear about each individual’s accomplishments instead of being limited to the contents of a small plaque. He sees similar uses for current student-athletes, whose podcasts could be housed on the Hawks website on their team roster pages. In both cases, it would improve the visitor experience and shine a brighter light on Hartwick’s proud history.

“Being an AI novice, I was unsure of how Ken’s idea would play out,” said Executive Director of Athletics Paul Vecchio. “It was a revelation that not only did it enliven our candidates’ personal history and accomplishments but was also fun and compelling to listen to. I’m grateful to Ken for his passion for Hartwick College and elevating our Athletic Hall of Fame process and experience.”

To hear the stories behind each member of the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025, listen to the Past Podcast.

Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 Stories

December 22, 2025
From The Wick Magazine, Wick Mag Fall 2025

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