Navigating The Economic, Cultural, Structural And Regulatory Pressures that Surround Higher Education And College Athletics Trustees and Presidents: A Podcast for University Leaders On College Athletics

So much of what we have talked about (and who we have talked with) involves leadership. Whether it’s in the President’s Office, as a Board member, as a higher ed scholar, or heading up a national education association, navigating the headwinds and occasional rough waters are a part of the job.

My guest today studies higher education and athletic leadership. Dr. Jennifer Lee Hoffman is an Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Washington, where she heads up the Center for Leadership in Athletics. She recently published a book called “College Sports and Institutional Values in Competition”.

We discussed the disconnect between college's recognition of promoting and rewarding student "volunteerism" and athletic department's discouragement (and, at times, outright banning) of athlete activism. It's worth exploring the dissonance that college athletes feel on this and other topics, and we do in this podcast. We also talked about the tension that exists in the environment around an institution—economics, cultural, structural and regulatory, all demonstrating that having strong internal leadership over athletics is critical to navigating these competing forces.


Dr. Hoffman writes, "Meaningful change will not come until we first understand the ways in which athletics are deeply embedded in higher education.” This podcast gets us started down that path.