SWAC commish headed to NCAA
LUT WILLIAMS
BCSP Editor
Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Robert Vowels announced last week that he will be leaving his position next month to take a job with the NCAA national office.
In his new position, Vowels will serve as the primary
administrator for youth outreach services which includes among other
duties overseeing the NCAA's drug-testing program. His last day at
the SWAC will be June 15. He begins at the NCAA on August 1.
At the NCAA, Vowels replaces Ron Stratten, who announced his retirement in January.
"It's an opportunity that presented itself and we kept talking," said Vowels Tuesday from his SWAC office in Birmingham of his conversations with the NCAA. "In the end, it was a challenge I could not turn down."
He said before he made the decision, he talked it over with each of the SWAC's presidents who understood that the new position was another career move and challenge for him.
Vowels, 48, took the reins of the SWAC in December 2003 from former Commissioner, Dr. James Frank, who had returned in May 2001 to lead the conference on an interim basis following the dismissal of former Commissioner Rudy Washington. Frank, who had previously spent 15 years as the SWAC's commissioner, was instrumental in getting Vowels, then in his third year as an up-and-coming commissioner of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Confe-rence, to make the jump to the SWAC.
Since coming to the SWAC, Vowels has provided steady leadership that contrasted greatly with the mercurial Washington, who brought change and upheaval, including moving the conference office from New Orleans to Birmingham and ushering in an end to the Heritage Bowl and the beginning of the SWAC Championship football game.
While the changes Washington instituted still reverberate today, his bold moves were sometimes out of step with the pace of the conference.
Vowels, who cut his teeth in athletic administration during a seven-year stint as an assistant commissioner in the Big Ten Conference and as an assistant athletic director at Vanderbilt, has focused on steady growth and sound management.
"Dating back to my time at the SIAC, my whole experience has been extremely positive," said Vowels, who received his undergraduate degree at Duke completing a law degree at North Carolina Central University.
"I grew up in a house of HBCU alums, so their was a warm feeling when I entered this (HBCU) arena," he said. "My whole focus was for the conference(s) to be better by the time we left both stops. I think we've accomplished that."
Vowels said the SWAC is benefitting from better exposure, primarily because of a deal with ESPN signed two years ago that puts the conference on national television. He also says corporate sponsorships, revenue distribution, championships and student-athlete experiences have improved. The conference will also soon unveil a new website.
He says the biggest job in front of his successor will be bringing a greater focus to marketing and fund-raising.
"There's a need to re-invigorate the SWAC's image and its branding," said Vowels, "give the fans a reason to keep coming to our events. Dollars need to be set aside to enhance that image and get the word out.
"The SWAC is stable financially and organizationally. Hopefully, the next person will have a real strong background in marketing. The person must be a critical thinker with vision and creativity. There are a lot of great candidates out there."
The conference conducts 18 championships and operates on a budget of between $4.5 to $5 million, a figure he says is "competitive" with similar conferences.
Vowels was recruited to his new position with the NCAA by Dr. Bernard Franklin, a former president of Virginia Union who now serves as the NCAA senior vice president for Governance and Membership. Vowels said he met Franklin while he was SIAC commissioner and Franklin's school (VUU) played against an SIAC institution in the Pioneer Bowl.
In his new position, Vowels will work with NCAA national office leadership and Association membership to develop and enhance education and outreach programs that address student-athlete leadership development, gender issues, health and safety, and sportsmanship.
"Robert brings a wealth of experience in intercollegiate athletics at both the institutional and conference levels, and we are excited he is joining the NCAA team," said Franklin. "He has an impressive record of performance in a variety of NCAA governance bodies, including the Division I Management Council and the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee."
Vowels said he is eager to begin leading the education-services function to the next level. "Developing education programs addressing student-athlete health and well-being — as well as mentoring programs aimed at future student-athletes — are critically important and have an impact on our youth for years to come."
© 2007 Azeez Communications, Inc.