Assistant Athletic Director Chris Reynolds Has Been Selected An NCAA Fellow For 2001-02 By the NCAA Minority
The Fellows Leadership Development Program began in 1994.

Jan. 4, 2001

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — University of Notre Dame assistant athletic director Chris Reynolds has been selected one of seven NCAA Fellows for 2001-02 by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics.

The Fellows Leadership Development Program began in 1994. Modeled after the American Council on Education Fellows Program, the NCAA Fellows Program was developed with the specific goal of enhancing the employment and leadership opportunities for ethnic minorities and women at the senior management level of intercollegiate athletics administration.

The purpose of the 18-month program is to identify minorities and women who aspire to hold positions such as athletics directors and conference commissioners and to involve them in various senior-management-level administrative experiences in intercollegiate athletics.

The program provides academic and practical work experiences that enable individuals to develop their talents and abilities and to mesh those skills with their aspirations. The program is designed to foster leadership within intercollegiate athletics and to highlight the relationship between the athletics and academic communities.

Reynolds received his bachelor’s degree in Afro-American studies and criminal justice from Indiana University in 1993, and he obtained his juris doctorate from Indiana in 1996. Reynolds was a member of Indiana’s men’s basketball team, including the 1992 Final Four team. He also was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Reynolds’ work with the SAAC sparked his interest in intercollegiate athletics administration. As a SAAC member, he had his first opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with high-ranking athletics administrators about issues that affected student-athletes. His experiences with the SAAC were rewarding and helped heighten his awareness of student-athletes’ needs and the approaches athletics administrators use to address a broad range of issues.

Reynolds has continued to address the needs of student-athletes through the positions he has held since graduating from Indiana. In addition to having a heavy athletics compliance background, he also has taught on the collegiate level and served as a facilitator/trainer for the NCAA Foundation Leadership Conference.

Reynolds joined the Notre Dame athletic staff last fall to assist the compliance office in the area of rules education, following three years as director of compliance services at Western Michigan. He previously was an assistant compliance coordinator at Michigan State — and served as an NCAA membership services intern in 1996-97.

Reynolds said, “The Fellows Program will provide an excellent opportunity to gain the experience needed to become a senior-level administrator while working to make a positive difference in the lives of young people.”

Members of the 2001-02 NCAA Fellows class, in addition to Reynolds, are: Corrinne Wright, Syracuse assistant director of athletics compliance, Gloria Nevarez, California-Berkeley assistant athletics director/compliance, James Wyatt, Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference assistant commissioner for compliance, John Robinson Jr., Villanova associate athletics director, Gwen Lexow, Bates head softball coach, and Faith Shearer, Johns Hopkins associate director of athletics/senior woman administrator.