PROFILE: GWEN REEVES AND PATRICK NERO
Chairs chart new ground
for trailblazing committees
By Leilana McKindra and Greg Johnson
It isn’t easy for individuals to stand out in groups that are accustomed to conducting their business collectively, but Gwen Reeves and Patrick Nero are doing just that.
Reeves, the director of the health and physical education center at Fort Valley State, became the first female chair of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee last September. Nero, commissioner of the America East Conference, is set to become the first male chair of the Committee on Women’s Athletics this September.
After joining the Division II Management Council midterm in 2002, Reeves was assigned as a liaison to the MOIC, a link that continued after she was selected to serve a full term on the Management Council.
Reeves said the MOIC has been sensitive to issues related to both women and ethnic minorities throughout her six-year tenure with the committee.
“You have to be a special person who is sensitive to issues that affect other people, not be selfish in your thoughts and look at what’s good for the Association,” said Reeves. “The MOIC has done a good job of trying to balance issues that relate to females, minorities and males.”
Reeves has been a part of intercollegiate athletics since 1992, when she joined Fort Valley State as a wellness coordinator and was designated as senior woman administrator. Since then, she has held multiple positions within the athletics department, including a five-year stint as AD.
Like Reeves, Nero wasn’t setting out to be a pioneer when he volunteered to be a member of the CWA.
When he joined the Division I Management Council in 2005 and the governance group was looking for a CWA representative, Nero was intrigued. “It was an opportunity to delve into some of the issues that our women student-athletes, coaches and administrators face daily,” he said.
Nero, 42, has worked in college athletics since 1988 and was the athletics director at Maine before joining America East. He said being in charge of an entire athletics department opened his eyes to situations facing women in athletics.
“One issue, for example, is the number of female coaches we’ve lost,” Nero said. “You learn about the difficulties in not only attracting more females in coaching and administration, but also keeping them due to life/work balance issues. It has led me to talk with our folks in the conference office and to our athletics directors and senior woman administrators about this issue.”
Nero figures those issues will remain high on the CWA agenda when he’s in charge of leading it.