I hope your summer is off to a great start! Our administrative and coaching staffs are planning various vacations, but we're also doing what it takes to get ready for the upcoming 2015-16 athletics campaign, which starts in mid-August with our women's soccer team.
Athletics to begin self-study of university
Earlier this month, we turned in to the NCAA our second reclassification report, which is a 160-page document on our progress in several areas including budget, scholarships and gender equity.
As ACU moves into the third of its four-year transition period, we have been tasked by the NCAA to complete a self-study of the university and its athletics department. Over the next two years (2015-16 and 2016-17), a steering committee will conduct a study as part of our final NCAA report due June 2017 before we are fully eligible for NCAA Division I post-season play in 2017-18.
I'm proud to announce that ACU executive vice president, Dr. Allison Garrett, will chair the committee, which will also include ACU president Dr. Phil Schubert ('91), our faculty athletics representative, Dr. Laura Phillips ('88), and myself, as well as others across campus. Dr. Garrett is a great friend of athletics and believes in both the mission of ACU and ACU athletics and believes we are headed on the right path in our transition to NCAA Division I affiliation.
In addition to the overall steering committee – which will include one alum, one member of the Board of Trustees, one other faculty member and two current students – we will put together three sub-committees. One sub-committee will be tasked with studying the governance and rules of the university, another will study the institution's academic integrity and another will study gender, university and student-athlete well-being.
This self-study will be a big part of our final two years of reclassification, as well as a big part of our final report to the NCAA. I look forward to updating you on our progress with the report over the course of the next 24 months.
New addition to senior staff
I’m proud to announce that my former colleague at the University of New Mexico, Lisa Gilmore, has joined our staff as the associate director of athletics for compliance and academics
and will begin her duties on July 1. Lisa will also serve as our Senior Woman Administrator and will represent ACU at NCAA and Southland Conference meetings when necessary.
She will serve as the sport supervisor over women's basketball, women's soccer and men's and women's tennis. In her role at ACU, Lisa will be in charge of certification of eligibility, Title IX and gender equity issues, internal auditing, NCAA annual report, advising the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and 5th-year scholarships. Please make Lisa feel welcome in both the Abilene and ACU communities.
Major gift to golf program
Two weeks ago, we announced a six-figure gift to the ACU men’s golf program from the Byron Nelson Foundation which will be used to push the program’s operating budget to the top of the Southland Conference. This transformational gift will be spread out over the next five years and will give head coach Tom Shaw greater flexibility in recruiting, traveling and scheduling.
We are extremely grateful to the great work done by Coach Shaw, as well as former golfer and longtime Byron Nelson friend, Jon Bradley ('72), who now runs the foundation, for their work in making this gift happen.
Throwing out the first pitch
My family and I had the great pleasure of attending "ACU at The Ballpark Night" in Arlington on June 4, along with over 700 hundred other ACU folks. In addition to attending the game and meeting so many great ACU alumni, lettermen, fans and future students, I had the unique opportunity to throw out the first pitch before the game.
What an unforgettable experience; obviously one of the highlights of my career. It was such an incredible honor to represent ACU on that stage. I wish I had thrown a strike, but at least I didn't bounce it in!
Excellent work by our students in the classroom
ACU student-athletes not only performed well on the fields and courts during the 2014-15 season, but also in the classroom. Our student-athletes earned national and conference academic honors during the year, and we ended the season with an overall 3.1 GPA for all student-athletes.
The No. 1 reason we should be working in intercollegiate athletics is to help our student-athletes earn a degree and help them prepare for life after college. If we aren’t helping them earn their degree then we haven’t done our job!
I’m also proud of the 19 student-athletes who walked across the stage on May 9 and received their diploma during graduation ceremonies inside Moody Coliseum. Two previous ACU coaches – former women’s volleyball coach Kellen Mock ('05) and former men’s basketball graduate assistant Michael Bacon ('12) – earned their master’s degrees. Congratulations to all!
Several former student-athletes graduated with honors: Rachel Belcher (cross country), Magna Cum Laude in psychology; Katie Stivers (soccer), Magna Cum Laude in psychology; Neely Borger (volleyball), Maga Cum Laude in marketing; and Mackenzie Lankford (women’s basketball), Magna Cum Laude in elementary education. Also, former football player Angel Lopez earned his degree in biology and also received the Dean Adams Achievement Award, which is given annually to students who overcome some type of obstacle to complete their education. Just before his junior season in 2013, Lopez lost his mother to cancer.
Other things to know
Women’s basketball head coach Julie Goodenough announced earlier this month that she has hired Erika Lambert as her new associate head coach. Erika joins the ACU staff after former assistant coach Kendra Hassell left ACU to become the head coach at UT-Tyler.
Men’s basketball coach, Joe Golding ('99), announced that former assistant coach / recruiting coordinator Patrice Days has left ACU to become an assistant coach at Wright State. We will miss Patrice, but are confident that Coach Golding will hire a more than capable replacement.
I hope each of you has a great and safe summer and that you enjoy some down time with your families.
Go Wildcats!
Lee De León
Director of Athletics
Abilene Christian University
