University of Minnesota Athletics
NCAA President Emmert Visits Campus
9/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Sept. 15, 2016
Photo Gallery
NCAA President Mark Emmert visited the University of Minnesota on Thursday to meet with campus and athletics leadership, coaches and student-athletes. Emmert's visit focused on NCAA ideals such as academics, wellbeing and fairness for student-athletes. His stop at Minnesota reinforced that the University and Gopher Athletics are among the nation's best at embodying these ideals.
During his time on campus, Emmert shared updates from how the NCAA is continuing to work with student-athletes to provide the best experience for them in all of these areas, but also listened as those he met with shared the successes and challenges they see on a daily basis.
That began over breakfast, where Emmert met with University President Eric Kaler. Last month, Kaler was elected chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, the top governing body for Division I. In this role, Kaler will work closely with not only the Board, but Emmert as well, working on strategy, policy and oversight legislation at the Division I level.
"Dr. Emmert regularly hears me celebrating the successes of Gopher student-athletes and our staff here at the University, so I was excited to have him on campus to meet some of those people and see our work firsthand," Dr. Kaler said. "Our University shares the NCAA's commitment and continued focus on the well-being of student-athletes. Dr. Emmert's leadership has been critical in this effort, and it was wonderful to have him share his perspective with us."
Following breakfast, Emmert met with senior athletics staff at the Bierman building before a brief tour of the school's athletics facilities, highlighted by the ongoing construction of the Athletes Village. These new facilities will provide more resources for the University to address the ideals Emmert reinforced during his visit, providing a new academic center, nutrition center and leadership development center to help current and future Gopher student-athletes succeed during their collegiate careers and in their lives following graduation.
Emmert also sat down with Athletics Director Mark Coyle during his visit. It was the first time the two had spoke since Coyle took over as Minnesota's athletics director on June 1.
"It was our pleasure to host Dr. Emmert for his visit to campus today," said Coyle. "We have a great deal to be proud of here, and I was happy to have the chance to share with him the many success stories of our student-athletes. I always say my top priority is helping our student-athletes succeed. Dr. Emmert shares that passion and it was great to hear him discuss how the NCAA continues to work toward that."
Emmert wrapped up his visit to Minnesota by having lunch at TCF Bank Stadium with 10 current and former Gopher student-athletes. A key piece of this meeting was the input of the student-athletes, who offered Emmert input on topics including injury recovery, time commitment and internships, and also asked questions about NCAA policies and Emmert's vision for the future. As he had shared throughout the day, that vision centered heavily on creating a positive experience for every student-athlete.
Photo Gallery
NCAA President Mark Emmert visited the University of Minnesota on Thursday to meet with campus and athletics leadership, coaches and student-athletes. Emmert's visit focused on NCAA ideals such as academics, wellbeing and fairness for student-athletes. His stop at Minnesota reinforced that the University and Gopher Athletics are among the nation's best at embodying these ideals.
During his time on campus, Emmert shared updates from how the NCAA is continuing to work with student-athletes to provide the best experience for them in all of these areas, but also listened as those he met with shared the successes and challenges they see on a daily basis.
That began over breakfast, where Emmert met with University President Eric Kaler. Last month, Kaler was elected chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, the top governing body for Division I. In this role, Kaler will work closely with not only the Board, but Emmert as well, working on strategy, policy and oversight legislation at the Division I level.
"Dr. Emmert regularly hears me celebrating the successes of Gopher student-athletes and our staff here at the University, so I was excited to have him on campus to meet some of those people and see our work firsthand," Dr. Kaler said. "Our University shares the NCAA's commitment and continued focus on the well-being of student-athletes. Dr. Emmert's leadership has been critical in this effort, and it was wonderful to have him share his perspective with us."
Following breakfast, Emmert met with senior athletics staff at the Bierman building before a brief tour of the school's athletics facilities, highlighted by the ongoing construction of the Athletes Village. These new facilities will provide more resources for the University to address the ideals Emmert reinforced during his visit, providing a new academic center, nutrition center and leadership development center to help current and future Gopher student-athletes succeed during their collegiate careers and in their lives following graduation.
Emmert also sat down with Athletics Director Mark Coyle during his visit. It was the first time the two had spoke since Coyle took over as Minnesota's athletics director on June 1.
"It was our pleasure to host Dr. Emmert for his visit to campus today," said Coyle. "We have a great deal to be proud of here, and I was happy to have the chance to share with him the many success stories of our student-athletes. I always say my top priority is helping our student-athletes succeed. Dr. Emmert shares that passion and it was great to hear him discuss how the NCAA continues to work toward that."
Emmert wrapped up his visit to Minnesota by having lunch at TCF Bank Stadium with 10 current and former Gopher student-athletes. A key piece of this meeting was the input of the student-athletes, who offered Emmert input on topics including injury recovery, time commitment and internships, and also asked questions about NCAA policies and Emmert's vision for the future. As he had shared throughout the day, that vision centered heavily on creating a positive experience for every student-athlete.
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