Scripps Leadership and Career Development
“Whenever you make a promise, you have a responsibility to that promise.” -Deion Sanders (Coach Prime) – Head Football Coach, University of Colorado
Colorado student-athletes compete at the highest level of collegiate athletics. They come to CU in hopes of becoming successful in competition and in the classroom. Through innovative, holistic and individual support programs, Scripps Leadership and Career Development (LCD) provides all intercollegiate student-athletes resources and opportunities to explore and pursue their passions while preparing them to achieve long term success. LCD focuses on the experience that a student-athlete has while competing in their sport. It is commonly accepted that athletes can learn a great deal from their participation. This understanding of leadership through their experiences (experiential leadership) is a core tenant of programming. CU athletics is intentional in providing opportunities for student-athletes to develop, practice, and reflect upon their understanding and learning about leadership through their intercollegiate athletics experience and to become actionable leaders—focusing on personal growth and team success as well as post-graduation and job readiness. As men’s basketball player K. J. Simpson commented, “There are so many little details to obtain success, but being a leader holds a powerful standard.”
LCD partners with various units within in the athletic department including DEI and Psychological Health and Performance, and NIL to provide ongoing programming targeting both specific years in school as well as various topics. For incoming first year students, the First Year Program (FYP) supports their transition from high school student and athlete to a Division 1 student-athlete at a major research institution that includes greater time demands and expectations. Through the Gamble STEPS Program, seniors and grad students complete programming that will support their own transition away from CU and into the world of pro sport, graduate school or become job ready—their ability to negotiate the mental and physical changes from their years at CU.
Additionally, the LCD program combines the development of leadership through sport with career and grad readiness. As Simpson went on to say, “These same skills and details I mentioned on how I feel being a leader truly is in basketball, can all be applied to school, relationships to a certain extent, and daily life.” Student-athletes have the opportunity to gain greater self-awareness to explore career interests, understanding their own personal stories and legacy, and how to tell those stories through various communication tools including resumes, personal statements, and interviews.
Division 1 student-athletes face many expectations and pressures--both self-imposed as well as external—all with a common focus to achieve success. Scripps Leadership and Career supports this experience of the “journey to win” and the learning that comes with it.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Fpe-I92KQA]