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Winston-Salem State AD Etienne Thomas will resign at the end of the calendar year. Chancellor Bonita Brown: “AD Thomas has been a passionate advocate for our student-athletes and a dedicated steward of Ram Athletics. Her leadership has advanced our athletic programs and strengthened WSSU's commitment to excellence on and off the courts and fields. […] WSSU remains deeply committed to supporting our student-athletes, coaches, and loyal Ram fans as we move forward. Work is currently underway for a refreshed strategic plan, as such, the timing of this decision allows us to realign athletics with evolving priorities in enrollment, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement. We are focused on building a future that sustains excellence both in competition and in the holistic development of our student-athletes.” Deputy AD/CFO Eric Burns will serve as Interim AD. (link)

More from Illinois Springfield AD Mike Hermann’s Small College Conversation with College.town’s Anthony Grassi on how he is pushing for Springfield to grow from a college town in disguise to a college town. The tagline came from a local economic development individual and Hermann is leaning on his experience as the AD at Kansas Wesleyan (NAIA) to make an impact. Hermann states each team is involved with local nonprofits and adopts a different elementary school. “It really has to be an intentional strategy across the board, and it really is 1% improvement over a hundred different things that gets you to that 100% improvement. So we really need to focus on a lot of things in terms of intentional community connection that'll allow us to be the college town. I don't think there's any better place for community members to come out and have a day than just to watch a college athletics event. I mean, our athletes are great role models. It's economically priced and college athletics is very affordable. So it's a great opportunity for the community to come out and it really adds value to the community. We just want to emphasize that more and continue to build that in Springfield.” Full conversation on BOSCA. (link, link)

Check out the first Football regional rankings. As a reminder, the first rankings are listed in alphabetical order. (link)

U.S. District Judge Fred Slaughter has issued a preliminary injunction for Concordia Irvine to reinstate Women’s Swimming and Diving and Tennis after discontinuing the Men’s and Women’s sports in May, while the legal proceedings continue. Slaughter writing: “The court has spent significant time considering the appropriate preliminary injunction to issue based on these findings. In particular, the court has struggled with the fact that if plaintiffs win this case, a final judgment would give CUI discretion in how to come into compliance with Title IX, yet in the short term plaintiffs seek reinstatement of particular teams that CUI has already disbanded, which CUI would not necessarily have to reinstate to comply with Title IX, and where reinstatement alone would not cure the alleged Title IX violations. […] The court emphasizes that just because the court now orders CUI to reinstate the swim and dive and tennis teams does not mean that CUI must sponsor these teams in the long term.” (link)

More Legal Matters…
➤ Attorneys for Vanderbilt (DI) quarterback Diego Pavia say they are now pushing to make their lawsuit against the NCAA a class action claim. From Front Office Sports: “The new plaintiffs include football players from multiple schools, including Vanderbilt’s Tre Richardson, Louisiana Tech’s Andrew Burnette, Virginia Tech’s James Djonkam, and Oklahoma State’s Iman Oates. With the imminent amended complaint, Pavia and his attorneys hope to set a completely new precedent nationwide and permanently change the rule that currently requires JUCO seasons to count against a player’s four years of NCAA eligibility.” (link)
➤ An Orangeburg, South Carolina, jury has awarded former South Carolina State football student-athlete Robert Geathers $18M after it found that the NCAA was aware of the risks of repeated concussions but failed to warn Geathers, who played for the Bulldogs from 1977-81 and now struggles with severe memory loss and can’t hold a job, make a meal or dress himself. The State’s Ted Clifford also reports Geathers was diagnosed with dementia in 2017 at the age of 59. Strom Law Firm attorney Bakari Sellers, who represented Geathers, says they had not sued SC State because they felt that the NCAA was ultimately responsible for Geathers’ suffering: “[The NCAA] had information from these experts. They didn’t provide that information to the schools.” Once the judgement is entered, the NCAA will have 30 days to file a notice of appeal. (link)

It’s Personnel…
➤ MSU Moorhead promotes Asst. AD for Compliance and Student Services Jason Sobolik to Assoc. AD for Internal Affairs and Compliance. (link)
➤ This morning’s edition of Coaches.wire is ready for your review. (link)

Lincoln (PA) suspended classes today after a shooting on campus following Saturday’s homecoming game killed one individual and injured at least six others, including one student. (link)

The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Nell Gluckman profiles the sport-performance major at Southern Virginia (DIII), which is exclusive to students participating in a competitive sport. The idea was brought to SVU by Professor of Philosophy John Armstrong, who was inspired by a New York Times feature on NYU (DIII) Professor David Hollander’s push for a sport major with the backing of Nike. In its first academic year, 29 student-athletes have enrolled in the major, with AD Josh Monsen believing that it could become one of the institution’s most popular majors. Hollander on the idea of an athletics major: “The leap that we’re trying to get people to understand is not that sports is a conduit to learning math or science or that sports is a conduit to learning sociology or leadership. Sports is a discipline unto itself, unique and rich, no different than music, art, dance, and dare I say math, literature. […] The only thing that’s different between athletics and these other disciplines is that it’s never been raised to the level of serious academia. That’s been a historic mistake.” While comparable academic programs are being proposed at American (DI), Lindsey Wilson (NAIA) where 12 academic credits would be awarded for sport participation, and more, detractors feel the idea would give schools and coaches more control over student-athletes and become a crutch to keep athletes eligible, with Indiana (DI) Emeritus Professor Murray Sperber stating: “The suggested sports-performing major seems an excuse to list current professional or semi-professional college athletes as university students. It seems a sad fiction.” (link)

Korn Ferry CEO Gary Burnison observes that the fears of loneliness and failure are both rooted in isolation and Angela Castellani, a member of the Korn Ferry Board and CEO Services Practice and a clinical psychologist, tells Burnison: “‘I didn’t realize how lonely this job would be.’ That’s what I hear from every first-time CEO.’ It comes up every month.” Burnison notes: “For leadership, as in life, evolutionary psychology offers an explanation. Going back millennia, the fear of failure meant much more than making a mistake. It was also about rejection. That’s where the fear of loneliness comes in – and far more than the existential angst of being alone. Getting shut out of the circle was tantamount to being ousted from Maslow’s Hierarchy. And that was a threat to human survival. Failure and loneliness—they’re embedded in our DNA.” Castellani goes on to explain: “You are not alone. The minute I tell that to leaders—they feel so relieved.” From there, Burnison believes the path to dealing with the fear begins, and he outlines three steps to take: understand the fear, reframe the fear and give yourself some grace. “What matters most are not our fears or even the moments of failure—what counts is what we do afterwards. … Amid our fears, insecurities, and vulnerabilities, we all have one thing in common: We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves. And that’s the leader’s job—to ensure a deep sense of belonging reverberates throughout the organization.” (link)