N Our Voice
I have always had a burning passion for sports and athletics.
Never have I claimed to be the most talented athlete on any playing surface, but the love that I have for them is undeniable.
From a very young age, I knew that my life would always revolve around this passion.
I was not sure how, but I knew that athletics would always be at the center of my world.
Here I stand, seventeen years into my career, and that passion continues to fuel the work that I do each and every day.
A grind to the top
Athletic compliance has really always been my specialty.
After receiving my Master's Degree in Sports Administration from Mississippi State University in 2006, however, I lacked a clear sense of direction for my career.
I always had a strong interest in law and felt as though I could combine that interest with my love for athletics and build myself a career on those foundations.
Once I completed internships in compliance at Mississippi State and Ohio University, I had a more clear vision of my future path.
I realized that compliance is about far more than simply combining law and athletics. It required relationship-building with many different constituencies: staff, coaches, student-athletes, and supporters.
The lesser-known bonus was that entering that field allowed me to have influence over all areas of the student-athlete experience.
More than ever before, I knew this was the path that I was meant to walk.
After sixteen years of serving in various compliance roles across the country and even stepping into Executive Leadership at the University of South Florida, my family and I embarked on the long journey northwest to Lincoln, Nebraska.
It is an honor of a lifetime to represent the Huskers, but I long to also use this platform to promote change.
Gender equality in athletics remains at the core of my life's work.
An event for change
While women's athletics have come a long way, there is more work to be done.
It has been fifty years since the passing of Title IX — a federal civil rights law that barred gender discrimination in our nation's schools.
Here we stand, however, still fighting.
Still, longing for gender equality in sports and athletics.
As an individual who is responsible for the oversight of Title IX and gender equity for this prestigious university, I am looked to as a role model and aim to be a champion of change in this regard.
On February 1, 2023, we took another step towards needed change and celebrate our Husker women at the University of Nebraska.
On this day, which uncoincidentally is National Girls and Women in Sports Day, we hosted our first annual HuskHERs event.
At this event, we honored female trailblazers who have made an undeniable impact not only on the University of Nebraska but this entire state as a whole.
This event was also a celebration of these incredible women and all that they have accomplished.
We offered well-deserved exposure to athletes, coaches, staff and community leaders who make an impact and workedd so incredibly hard to improve the overall student-athlete experience for women here at Nebraska.
It is my goal that this event is celebrated not only in 2023 but on this day for many, many years to come.
I could not have been more excited for this day of celebration and am incredibly grateful to the many hardworking committee members whom I have worked alongside for countless hours, dating back to the summer of 2022, to make this incredible event a reality.
Unfinished business
While this event will be an incredible opportunity to celebrate and honor these tremendous trailblazers, the work will not end here.
Unfinished business remains.
Women cannot create this change alone. Gender equity in athletics is going to take work on the part of all of us, regardless of gender.
It's important for all of us to continue this fight for equality in sports, regardless of how hard it might seem.
The greatest weapon in this battle is education and bringing others along as we — together — push for change.
Pushback, negativity, or adversity won't stop me from ensuring that I am providing the best quality student-athlete care that I can.
It's part of the process.
But whatever's ahead, I'm grateful to be in a position where I can impact change and amplify the right voices that need to be heard.
And the HuskHERs event will help celebrate those voices.