Where's Woodward: October
September 14
12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees meeting
Part of my role as Director of Athletics is serving as an Ex-Officio non-voting member of the 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees. I attended the September meeting where three candidates were designated to move forward to the general 12th Man Foundation membership for election to the 2019 Board of Trustees. At the same meeting, Dave Dunlap `83 was put forward as the chair-elect for 2020. The 12th Man Foundation Board of Trustees is the governing body of the organization. Trustees are among the most active supporters of Texas A&M Athletics and are perpetual advocates of the 12th Man Foundation’s mission of funding scholarships, programs and facilities in support of championship athletics.
September 25
Meeting with Marvin Tate
Marvin Tate is one of the famed Junction Boys, a native of Abilene and a member of the Class of 1955. He played football for A&M from 1951-54, playing three seasons for head coach Ray George before serving his senior season under Bear Bryant. In 1967, he became an Associate Director of Athletics at A&M and was promoted to Director of Athletics in 1978, serving in that position until 1981. Since then, he has been active in the private sector, and served as mayor of Bryan from 1985-95. Marvin is a gracious, fascinating man who has done so much for our community and I was thankful for the chance to spend some time with him discussing the past, present and future of Texas A&M Athletics.
Collegiate Sport Summit Planning Call
I am privileged to serve as one of 10 current or former Athletics Directors as a co-chair for Collegiate Sports Summit to be held in April, joining Sandy Barbour (Penn State), Jennifer Cohen (Washington), Bubba Cunningham (North Carolina), Chris Del Conte (Texas), Rick George (Colorado), Mark Jackson (Villanova), Scott Stricklin (Florida), Jack Swarbrick (Notre Dame) and David Williams (Vanderbilt). This event is a gathering designed to connect with peers, get up-to-speed on the trends and discuss in-depth top challenges in a transparent, forthright forum. We had our latest planning call for the 2019 conference and tackled a variety of topics during the discussion.
October 4
SEC Athletics Directors Meeting in Birmingham
I traveled to Birmingham, Alabama, on Thursday, October 4, for another of our regular SEC Athletics Director meetings. It was a quick, one-day, back-and-forth visit in which we discussed a variety of issues.
October 8
SEC Executive Committee meeting in Birmingham
I am currently one of seven individuals serving on the SEC’s Executive Committee. Here’s what The Executive Committee does: hears and decides appeals from Adverse Actions of the Commissioner in disciplinary and enforcement matters; approves contracts and agreements of the Conference; authorizes or ratifies actions of the Commissioner and otherwise determines and directs the policy of the Conference on matters that arise between regular annual meetings, if such matter cannot be disposed of satisfactorily by an existing rule or precedent; approves the annual operating budget of the Conference, and oversees all financial and fiscal affairs of the Conference as administered by the Commissioner; and may take other actions and make other decisions as may be specified in other provisions in the Constitution, Bylaws, and Commissioner’s Regulations. In short, we help the Conference conduct its business on a variety of matters on a regular basis.
October 9
Meeting with PR Consultant and Best-Selling Author Brian Curtis
Earlier this week I enjoyed seeing one of my longtime friends, Brian Curtis, who is a nationally respected public relations consultant. Brian visited here to work with several of our teams, student-athletes, coaches and multiple departments on a variety of PR elements. The author of eight books, Brian also gave a compelling presentation, “Generation Z – What Drives Them, How You Can Better Coach Them”, that provided great interaction. We are fortunate to have people of Brian’s stature available to us in our efforts to provide an unmatched student-athlete experience.
October 9 & 10
Champions Council regional events in Tyler and Bryan-College Station
Since its inception in 2004, the 12th Man Foundation’s Champions Council has served as a prestigious philanthropic membership that provides unmatched access to Texas A&M Athletics for our most devoted and financially committed supporters. There are eight (8) Champions Council Regional Events:
Oct. 9 – Tyler
Oct. 10 – Bryan/College Station
Oct. 16 – Dallas
Oct. 17 – Fort Worth
Oct. 23 – Houston
Oct. 24 – The Woodlands
Oct. 30 – San Antonio (lunch) / Austin (dinner)
The membership consists of friends of A&M Athletics who have committed significantly to a current capital project, or a philanthropic academic or program endowment above and beyond what is required for season tickets. Each member is part of a regional Champions Council group, led by local donors. Throughout each year, regional groups host exclusive events with athletics administrators, coaches, and student-athletes.
