UC Riverside’s School of Education will celebrate the fifth anniversary of its undergraduate minor in athletic leadership next week with a campus event highlighting how sport, education, and leadership intersect far beyond the playing field.
The anniversary gathering, set for Thursday, March 12 in Sproul Hall, will feature a series of discussions with guest speakers, faculty, and students about careers and leadership opportunities connected to athletics. The free event will include four sessions throughout the afternoon and evening and is open to students, faculty, and community members.
The program is led by Eddie Comeaux, a professor of higher education and associate dean in the School of Education, who created the minor to help students understand the broader social, educational, and policy dimensions of sports.
Comeaux and C. Keith Harrison, a longtime business, hip hop, and sports scholar, will moderate the speakers. Harrison retired last year from full-time teaching at the University of Central Florida. He now lectures at UCR, UCLA, and Arizona State University.
Comeaux said the goal is to prepare students for careers connected to athletics while also addressing issues that shape the life success of athletes as they navigate through the youth, prep, college, and professional leagues.
“For me, life after sport — life after eligibility — is really important,” Comeaux said. “When the music stops playing, and you no longer have eligibility, are you well-positioned for life after sport?”
The minor introduces students to a wide range of topics, including college athletics policy, leadership development, equity issues, and the growing business side of sports. Courses examine changes such as the rise of name-image-and-likeness compensation, transfer opportunities, and broader debates about fairness and opportunity in collegiate athletics.
The minor launched during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, and enrollment has steadily grown to more than 200 students as interest in the intersection of sports and education expands across campus.
“The vast majority of them are not athletes,” Comeaux said. “But there’s a huge draw of students interested in understanding the athletic landscape.”
Beyond classroom learning, the program offers internships and partnerships with sports organizations that expose students to potential careers in coaching, team administration, analytics, and community recreation. Opportunities range from working with professional teams to learning about sports data analysis and leadership roles in athletic organizations.
to life beyond the playing field. (Photo/UCR)
The minor also connects closely with the Center for Athletes’ Rights and Equity, a research initiative founded by Comeaux. The center supports research and initiatives that examine the experiences and well-being of athletes across all levels of competition and how they can thrive after they no longer compete as athletes.
Comeaux said the program reflects a broader shift in how universities think about athletics — not just as competition, but as a pathway to leadership, career development, and social change.
“I’m hoping that at the very least we’re exposing students to a deeper understanding of what this actually means when we think about college sports or youth sports,” he said. “And how leaders can respond to the challenges athletes encounter.”
The March 12 celebration will feature several guest speakers from the academic and athletic worlds. They include Derrick Gragg of Northwestern University, Danielle McArdle of the University of Georgia, Kenny Donaldson of UCLA, Leticia Oseguera of Penn State, and former professional basketball player and leadership advocate Schea Cotton, along with UCR basketball player Marqui Worthy. The discussions will focus on leadership, career development, and the evolving relationship between education and athletics.
Comeaux said he hopes the anniversary event will encourage more students to explore the minor and think more broadly about the role athletics can play in their lives and careers.
“We’re trying to expose students to opportunities and help them understand the athletic landscape,” he said. “If that opens doors for them, then we’re doing our job.”
