Syracuse Sun

Syracuse University is collaborating with the nationally recognized Women Leaders in Sports to establish a unique partnership aimed at enhancing the professional skills and management acumen of sport administrators and executives. The alliance between the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and Women Leaders in Sports aligns with an increase in women's participation in sports and Syracuse University's commitment to elevating sports through academic study, experiential learning, club sports, and intercollegiate athletics.

“Falk College is creating exceptional experiential learning opportunities for future sports professionals,” said Falk College Dean Jeremy S. Jordan. “Women’s prominence in sports is growing exponentially as they lead traditional male and female teams, engage larger audiences, earn new sponsorships, and gain greater media attention than ever before. This partnership integrates our students and faculty with the outstanding work of Women Leaders in Sports and guides us as we develop programming and curricula to meet the needs of this dynamic field.”

Jordan highlighted that the recent Summer Olympics generated significant excitement for women across various sports disciplines. It marked the fourth consecutive Summer Olympic Games where female U.S. athletes won more medals than their male counterparts.

The collaboration was inspired by a visit from Women Leaders in Sports CEO Patti Phillips to Syracuse University’s campus last March for meetings and presentations hosted by the Women's Leadership Initiative (WiL). The joint effort will create mentoring, fellowship, internship, and membership opportunities for Falk students; provide access to professional memberships for Falk faculty; support faculty attendance at key events like the Women Leaders in Sports National Convention; name Phillips as a special advisor to Jordan; enlist her services as an "executive in residence" at Falk; facilitate an exchange of relevant research; and co-create a Women Leaders in Sports Fellowship.

Women Leaders in Sports is a 45-year-old organization dedicated to enhancing women’s influence and transforming leadership within sports sectors. Phillips stated that this new partnership makes strategic sense due to shared synergies.

“We accelerate the potential of women to positively impact sports with year-round, world-class leadership development, career training, and networking,” said Phillips. “Our nearly 6,000 members share Falk College’s core commitment to mastering all facets of sports.”

According to Women Leaders in Sports data, nearly half of its event attendees advance their careers within a year. In 2023 alone, it hosted 16 national events providing training, networking opportunities, career platform access online exclusively for members while celebrating member accomplishments through awards.

This announcement follows Syracuse University's recent declaration that it would transform Falk College into a first-of-its-kind College of Sport focused exclusively on sport-related disciplines on an R1 campus—making it among leading institutions preparing students for innovation-driven roles within sport-related fields globally.

The reimagined David B. Falk College of Sport will house programs such as sport management, sport analytics exercise science nutrition alongside esports jointly offered with Newhouse School Public Communications focusing on areas including Sport Business Human Performance Technology Innovation Community Wellness launching new research institute leveraging interdisciplinary approach driving innovations improving health outcomes integrating business digital media technology expertise other academic focuses.

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