The Drake Group Announces Newest Members, Leadership and Reelected Members-at-Large
The Drake Group, a non-profit seeking to reform collegiate athletics, has announced the following academics as new members of the organization. They are as follows.
DONNA C. GROVE, Ed.D., Assistant Professor of Sport Management, York College of Pennsylvania, Coordinator, Sport Industry Practicum Program. With over twenty years of experience in multiple roles including Associate Athletic Director, Senior Woman Administrator, Deputy Title IX Coordinator, and coach at two and four-year institutions, Dr. Grove offers a broad understanding of intercollegiate athletics, academic program development, and gender equity advocacy. Formerly, she served as President of the Maryland Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (MACDA), Assistant Commissioner of the Maryland JUCO Conference and has been a member of both the Education and Professional Development and Foundation Fund Committees for Women Leaders in Sport. She earned her Doctorate in Sport Management with a leadership specialization from the United States Sports Academy, focusing her dissertation on women’s career advancement in sports.
JENNIFER JACKSON, J.D., Academic Advisor, University of Oregon. Over the last decade-plus, Jackson has worked with a variety of sports and currently advises football and softball Duck athletes. Jennifer’s professional interests include current legal issues around NIL, Title IX, the NCAA, and the future of college sports. Before Oregon, Jennifer attended the University of Alabama Law School and practiced law in Alabama for several years. A graduate of the University of Kansas and a member of their women’s basketball team, she remains a faithful Jayhawks fan. She is a member of The Drake Group Education Fund Working Group (TDGEF), bringing her daily firsthand experience and knowledge of the impact of the changing landscape of college athletics to this academic think tank’s consideration of critical issues in college sports. Jackson also served as a co-author of the TDGEF research report, Improving Academic Outcomes in NCAA Division I Revenue Sports and HBCU Limited Resource Athletic Programs.
Meanwhile the returning leadership includes:
President-Elect: KEITH ADAMS, Ed.D., President and Founder of the CKA SAVE Project, dedicated to empowering student-athletes. With over 30 years of experience, he is a renowned advocate for their academic and personal development. Dr. Adams received an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, an M.A. in Teaching from Grand Canyon University, and a B.S. in History from Bowie State University. His dissertation examined the relationship between academic and athletic motivation among NCAA Division I student-athletes. He authored Finding the Balance: My Personal Journey to Academic and Athletic Success. Dr. Adams began his career as a high school teacher and coach, advancing to leadership roles such as department chair and Athletic Director. His current focus is on supporting students and stakeholders in school programs and serving as a speaker and writer on sports ethics, governance, and the educational impact of athletics.
Secretary: WENDY PIERPONT, Ed.D., is a Learning Specialist at University of Oregon’s Services for Student Athletes. Her professional focus is on academically underprepared students across all sports, working most intensely with freshmen who take courses in composition, education, and social sciences. Pierpont also serves as the Access Specialist in the unit and supports athletes who need accommodations and testing to get connected with accessible education on campus. She has served on University-wide and athletic department committees on diversity and inclusion and is part of the Behavioral Management Health Team, an athletic department group that works to support the mental health and psycho-social development of athletes. Pierpont received an MA in Education (Intersection of Sport and Education) and teaching credential from U.C. Berkeley, has taught middle school Special Education and Language Arts, and coached cross country for three years before returning to Berkeley for her doctorate. Pierpont attended Boston University on a swimming scholarship and graduated with a BA in History.
Treasurer: CONNEE ZOTOS, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate at the consulting firm Sports Management Resources. Most recently, she served as the Associate Dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs and Clinical Associate Professor of Sports Management in the School of Professional Studies at New York University. Zotos is the former Director of Athletics at Drew University, where she was responsible for the administration of 18 varsity sports programs during her 14-year tenure. Before serving at Drew, Dr. Zotos was the Women’s Athletics Director at William Smith College and Philadelphia University and a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin. She was a head college coach for 12 seasons and a three-time Conference Coach of the Year. She is a prolific writer and speaker in the areas of coaches’ employment and compensation systems, creating tiered athletic program models, coach evaluation, and Title IX. She is a recipient of a NACWAA regional and national Athletic Administrator of the Year award and a Women Leaders in College Sports Nike Lifetime Achievement Award. She received a Bachelor’s degree from Glassboro State College, a Master’s from the University of Colorado, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from the Univ. of Texas at Austin.
And the reelected members-at-large include:
DAVID C. HUGHES, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sport and Leadership at Gordon College. In 2023, his book chapter “Black Men, STEM, and Erasing the Digital Divide: The Need for Black Male Targeted eSports Initiatives” was published in the book Diversity and Inclusion in the eSports Industry. In 2022, Dr. Hughes was named a leader in the Metaverse by U.S. Black Engineer Magazine for the work with his Give Black App. Formerly, he served as faculty member at Georgetown University and Hampton University. While at Hampton, he secured a $340,000 technology grant to start the first eSports initiative at an HBCU. David has been a pre-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, a Scientia Foundation Fellow at Rice University, and a Social Justice Memorial Foundation Fellow. He is a graduate of Morehouse College and Prairie View A&M, a member of 100 Black Men and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
AARON MILLER, Ph.D., is an educator, author, podcaster, leadership coach, and cultural consultant. He is also a Lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, East Bay, an Associate Adjunct Faculty, Department of Kinesiology, St. Mary’s College of California, and creator/host of the podcast, The Power of Sports. Miller has authored Discourses of Discipline: An Anthropology of Corporal Punishment in Japan’s Schools and Sports and Buying In: Big-time Women’s College Basketball and the Future of College Sports. He is the author of numerous op-eds, essays, and journal articles and book chapters about education, sports, culture, power, violence, and social justice. He has been a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and a Visiting Professor at Waseda University. Miller received his B.A. from the University of California Los Angeles and M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Oxford University.
JOHN ROSEN, MBA, is a member of the New Haven Economic Performance Laboratory Advisory Board at the University of New Haven, a co-founder of MCAworks, LLC, and a co-founder of NewTechHaven, LLC, where he is responsible for client engagements involving new business creation, branding, new product development, and channel management. Rosen has over twenty-five years of sales and marketing management, as well as strategic consulting experience. He has helped firms deliver real unit growth both domestically and globally across a wide range of industries. Rosen is the co-author of Stopwatch Marketing: Take Charge of the Time When Your Customer Decides to Buy, and an Adjunct Professor of Economics at the University of New Haven. He received his MBA from Northwestern University and BS from Washington & Lee University. He also serves as the Treasurer and Board member for The Drake Group Education Fund.
SANFORD THATCHER. After graduating from Princeton in 1965 (summa cum laude in philosophy), Sandy Thatcher attended graduate school for two years and then embarked on a career in scholarly publishing for the next 50 years, mostly at two university presses, Princeton for 22 years and Penn State for 20 years as its director. For the Association of American University Presses (AAUP) he served two three-year terms on its board and then as president in 2007-08. He received the AAUP’s highest service award in 1999. He is the author of 100 articles and the History of Princeton Swimming and Diving, a book that grew out of his work as secretary of the Friends of Princeton Swimming and Diving from 1970 to 1989. He earned his varsity letter as a swimmer at Princeton and since 1972 has been a member of US Masters Swimming, competing in over 200 meets. His current team, Lone Star Masters, won the national championship in 2022.