Club Business
President Jim Cartner brought the meeting to order. Micah Fox led the prayer and pledge of allegiance to the US flag. As a reminder, this week on Wednesday, December 5, our club will participate in a special Rotary Packathon sponsored by Feed the Hunger at the Holly Hill Mall from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Rotarians from four clubs and members of four Interact clubs will join the fun, making this the largest Rotary Packathon ever. If you want to participate and failed to sign up, you can email Joseph Williams @ joseph@feedthehunger.org. Our club will have contributed a total of $2800 to the cause by then. Next Tuesday is our monthly board meeting at 11 am. Also, set aside December 18 for our annual Dirty Santa Luncheon, which will be at our regular meeting place. That meal will be catered from a special buffet line just for us. Buy a gift for whatever sex you are. Jim insists this will make everything just right. Next week Dick O’Donnell has the program. Click here to see all scheduled program dates and responsibilities. Sadly, we learned today that our treasurer, Kelly Carlisle, has resigned. She will be transferring her membership to an online club because her schedule will not allow her to attend lunch meetings. We will miss her. By the way, we need a new treasurer. Any volunteers?
December Birthdays and Anniversaries
Sioussat, Stuart C. (STUART) | 02 December |
Carter, Lloyd (LLOYD) | 03 December |
Cartner, James A. (JIM) | 04 December |
Dement, Brian S. (BRIAN) | 06 December |
Woodall, J. Edward (EDWARD) | 11 December |
Williams, Joseph (JOSEPH) | 25 December |
O’Donnell, Dick (DICK) | 26 December |
Smythe, Jeffrey (JEFFREY) | Kimberly | 12/10 |
Powell, Samuel C. (SAM) | Karen | 12/27 |
Lee, Sang-Ho (SANGHO) | Allison (ALLISON) | 12/31 |
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Brad Moser made a cryptic comment about retribution, which is somehow connected to Deva’s birthday party last Saturday. Apparently payback is coming. Whenever that happens, I hope someone will let us know.
- Katie Dukeshire informed us that Business after Hours will be held at her workplace, The Country Inn and Suites by Radisson, this week. All are invited.
Member Responsible for Today’s Program: David Moore
David Moore is a long time member of our club and a past president. He was part of the first wave recruited by Julian Griffin. He has been in the insurance business since graduating from Elon in 1972. Now his son is part of the family business, David R. Moore, CLU & Associates. His greatest claim to fame for him and his wife these days is his soon to be assembled foursome of grandchildren. David is also a Paul Harris Fellow.
Mike Ward, Elon University Deputy Director of Athletics
Before coming to Elon University, Mike Ward served as a member of the Athletics Department Executive Staff at Tennessee for the last six years, developing and implementing strategic initiatives and operations across the entire department. As a member of Tennessee’s executive team, Ward was involved in both internal and external operations, revenue generation, fundraising initiatives and enhancements to the student-athlete experience. External initiatives included the launch of the “Campaign for Comprehensive Excellence,” which raised more than $160 million over three years to impact the student-athlete experience, facilities construction in every sport at Tennessee, a rebranding initiative and the creation of the “One Tennessee” campaign, and Tennessee’s department-wide transition to Nike. Tennessee saw budget and revenue growth of 33 percent during Ward’s tenure, as well.
Internally, Ward oversaw most facets of the student-athlete experience, including sport program administration (football, men’s basketball, soccer and softball), strength and conditioning, sports medicine, sports psychology, sports science, nutrition, student conduct, Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the institution’s Lifeskills program. Ward helped hire several head coaches during his tenure, including football and men’s basketball. Ward also served as the athletic department’s legal liaison to the General Counsel and served on numerous campus committees. Academically, Tennessee is achieving at the highest level in its history, with record marks in both APR and GSR.
Prior to his time at Tennessee, Ward was the Associate Athletics Director for Compliance and Administration at the University of Alabama for just under four years. Ward served as a key member of the department’s executive staff, developing and implementing operating principles and procedures in all areas. Additionally, Ward served as an advisor to Alabama’s President, General Counsel, Director of Athletics, and Executive Director of Athletics regarding compliance, risk management and other athletics projects as assigned. Ward was key in restructuring Alabama’s compliance department to better serve the needs of a modern, large athletic department. In this restructuring, Ward reconstituted compliance procedures, assessed and adjusted staff, and built redundancies in key areas of monitoring and program administration. While at Alabama, Ward worked with current Elon head football coach Curt Cignetti, where the two were part of a 14-0 national championship football season, Alabama’s first in 17 years.
Before his stint at Alabama, Ward was the Director of Compliance at the University of Oklahoma for a year. Ward served as a member of the institution’s compliance office, with reporting lines through the Office of the General Counsel and the Athletics Department. His day-to-day duties included risk management and compliance monitoring for the Sooner’s athletic department.
Ward also spent time in Indianapolis, Ind., at the NCAA headquarters as the Assistant Director of Enforcement for nearly four years. In his role with the NCAA, Ward conducted investigations of alleged major Infractions across all three divisions of the NCAA membership. Investigations included the development of leads and incoming information, creating investigative plans, and conducting interviews to test the veracity of information reported. In this role, Ward traveled extensively to complete investigations, working on college campuses across the country.
Before his time with the NCAA, Ward was a legal associate with Smith and Carson, an international legal services and corporate intelligence and litigation firm in Dallas, Texas.
Ward earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) with a concentration in Business Administration from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2002. He graduated cum laude from Alabama in 1999, earning a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in biology and psychology. Ward and his wife, Beth, have two children, Xander (14) and Avalyn (13).
Mike spoke extensively about what makes Elon unique and attractive. Elon is making huge strides toward being able to compete with the best in Division I athletics. He said his job is to help shepherd the school through this transition and growth. Teams are competitive, enthusiasm is high, and the future is bright. Academically Mike said that Elon is hitting it out of the park, with a department GPA of around 3.2. He said almost all athletes who fulfill their four-year term graduate. Every athlete does a semester abroad as part of Elon’s global citizen program. The biggest challenge to continuing to advance competitively is to create the conditions that will attract blue chip players. He said the new 5200 seat Schar Center is a huge step in that direction. It is a $45 million arena and convocation center. It is a great addition to an already beautiful campus.
Conclusion
Jim presented Mike Ward with a book for him to donate to an institution of learning of his choice. Thomas Phelps’ table had the winning raffle ticket, but once again there was a failure to draw the Ace of Hearts. There are only 14 cards left and the pot is growing. Next week may produce a long awaited winner. Finally we all stood to recite Rotary’s four way test before Jim adjourned the meeting.
Until next time…