18-School ACC Completes its Spring Meetings
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (theACC.com) – The Atlantic Coast Conference finished its annual spring meetings Wednesday afternoon following individual and joint sessions that included the league’s Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs), Athletic Directors (ADs), Senior Woman Administrators (SWAs), Football Head Coaches, Men’s Basketball Head Coaches, Women’s Basketball Head Coaches and Senior Ethnic Minority Leaders (SEMLs).
“Our time this week has been extremely productive as we had the opportunity to advance our ongoing discussions surrounding the ever-changing state of college athletics. To be certain, having NCAA President Charlie Baker and Tim Buckley address the entire membership was extremely beneficial,” said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “It also was terrific to have so many partners with us, including Disney, ESPN and ACCN, as well as representatives from Cal, SMU and Stanford. We look forward to our incoming members officially joining the ACC this summer. As a league, we remain steadfast and excited about where our conference is headed.”
Joint and individual sessions featured updates and discussions related to myriad areas, including the ACC’s Disney, ESPN and ACC Network partnership, the future of college sports, continued engagement with Congress on name, image and likeness, the College Football Playoff, NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, revenue generation and distribution, and NCAA transfer portal trends.
The meetings opened Monday afternoon with a joint session with all attendees, featuring a presentation from NCAA President Charlie Baker, who engaged with administrators and coaches on the changing landscape of college athletics.
ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President (SAAC) Piper Hampsch of Duke (field hockey) and fellow SAAC member Christopher Holliday of North Carolina (football) attended the meetings and spoke with the ADs, SWAs, FARs and SEMLs. Following the student-athletes’ presentation on mental health and increased student-athlete engagement, the FARs, ADs, SWAs, and the SEMLs provided feedback and noted their appreciation for the ongoing leadership provided to their peers, respective institutions and conference and national level.
For the second straight year, one Senior Ethnic Minority Leader from each school’s athletics department staff attended the spring meetings. This group of attendees was identified to provide more opportunities for leaders from a historically underrepresented background to participate in governance meetings.
This year’s Exemplary Service Award was presented to Dr. Jeanne Doperak, a team physician at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Doperak has chaired the ACC’s Health Care Advisory Group since 2021. She has helped the group expand to include additional health care disciplines, and has also helped enhance the attendance, programming, and sponsorship for the conference’s annual Health and Safety Summit. Doperak was also a member of the ACC’s Medical Advisory Group during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ACC’s Board of Directors will meet next week to finish up the league’s scheduled meetings for this academic year.