Meeting

Report

 
JOHN SWOFFORD
ACC Commissioner
By: Marilynn Bowler

Some people create electricity when they walk into a room. Charlotte Rotary members experienced that sensation on February 17th when ACC Commissioner John Swofford arrived to speak to our club. The gregarious commissioner had difficulty making it to the head table because of the many friends who stopped him enroute, just to say “hello.” The oversized ballroom at Sheraton Four Points was filled to capacity a good fifteen minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start and the hotel staff had to scurry to set up several additional tables to accommodate our members and guests. It was a fitting tribute to a man who represents the best of high-profile sports through his professional and personal standards. He is justifiably regarded as one of the top administrators in the NCAA.
 
Charlotte Center City Partners president and fellow Rotarian Tim Newman gave a most comprehensive introduction of our speaker who is now in his seventh year as commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. A UNC graduate and Morehead Scholar, John Swofford played quarterback and defensive back for Chapel Hill during the period when the team went to the Peach Bowl, earned the ACC title and went to the Gator Bowl. He is a 1971 graduate of North Carolina and in ’73 earned a MEd. degree with a major in Athletics Administration from Ohio University (which is often referred to as the Harvard of sports management programs.) His road to top administration took him from U.of Va. back to Chapel Hill where he soon became the youngest major college athletics director in the nation at age 31. As Director of Athletics at UNC from 1980 to 1997, John was instrumental in building Chapel Hill’s athletics program into one of the country’s most respected entities.
 
This spectacular commissioner has spearheaded the development and growth of the ACC through the addition of both the Continental Tire Bowl and the Seattle Bowl, and has given the ACC six bowl opportunities for the first time in conference history. Less than four years ago the commissioner negotiated one of the nation’s most lucrative basketball television contracts with Raycom Sports/Jefferson Pilot Sports through the 2010—2011 season, resulting in the ACC becoming the only conference to have TV packages with two national cable networks – ESPN and Fox Sports Net. Receiving the “Outstanding American Award” in 2001 by the Triangle Chapter of the College Football Hall of Fame, he was then named to the NC High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame in 2002. And the awards and accolades keep growing. One of John’s most significant achievements is his marriage to his smart and savvy wife Nora. They reside in Greensboro and have three grown children.
 
John began his remarks to Charlotte Rotary by reminding us of the great relationship the ACC enjoys with the city of Charlotte. He talked about the value of long-term, real partnerships, citing the mutual respect and support the ACC maintains with the Carolina Panthers. Dangling a carrot before a room full of ACC fans, John mentioned that Charlotte is already among the nine cities stretching from New Jersey to Miami which are considered serious contenders for an ACF football championship game. John then went on to talk with pride of the quality of leadership among coaches, athletes and schools in the ACC and gave us the word he deems most important in the tremendous success that is enjoyed by those prestigious institutions. “Passion,” he said. “Passion for the institution and all it represents.” ACC schools are extremely competitive at the highest level. There is a culture of trust and cooperation, and a tradition of balance between academics, integrity and athletics, he said. The ACC commissioner admits he dreams big … he dreams of the highest graduation rate and the lowest incidence of violations among ACC athletes. As the ACC expands – as it has recently, to twelve schools – the league is strengthened whereby, in turn, it is enhanced as the premiere conference. To have U.S. News & World Report include six ACC colleges in the forty top-rated schools in the country, academically, is a tremendous feat. John’s plan is to continue on that path and become even more competitive in men’s basketball and football, and in women’s basketball.
 
Values and commitment over fifty years will not change in the ACC and along with the preservation of team rivalries it all adds up to the tantalizing package that is the heart of the Atlantic Coast Conference. With John Swofford at the helm, the only way to go is forward --- athletically and academically. With the commissioner’s own passion, it should be a joyous ride for ACC fans everywhere.
 
Head Table:
Todd Stevens, Debby Millhouse, Tim Newman, Tom Robertson, Budd Berro, Mary John Dye
 
Visitors and Guests:
Invocation: Erskine Harkey; Visitors & Guests: Gene Bratek; Health & Happiness: Ed Turner; Song: Gregg Walker
  

*    *    *

Attendance Record 2/17/04 2/18/03 visitors & guests 36 18 club members 200 168 total attendance 236 186 Wedding Anniversaries 26 Becky and Bob Boulware 27 Penelope and Edgar Love 28 Jean and Joe Penner 01 Carolyn and Ed Nowokunski        New Members  |  Resignations Joey Godbold Todd Stevens Tim Saunders   Roaming Rotarians n/a Birthdays and Birthplaces 25 Pete deWitt, Philadelphia, PA 25 Cynthia Marshall, Washington, DC 25 Jerry Orr, Charlotte, NC 26 Jay Deyton, Altapass, NC 26 Steve Montgomery,         Greensboro, NC 28 Ron Ezell, Samson, AL 28 Rob Wright, Philadelphia, PA 01 Charlie Ibach, Sioux City, Iow

Click here for photos of this Meeting