U.S. Anti-Doping CEO Tygart To Deliver Public Lecture At CU's Champions Center

BOULDER — One year after the University of Colorado's Sports Governance Center was ushered into existence, the first academic program in the country to be housed by a university athletic department is steaming ahead at a significant clip.

The SGC hopes to gain approval this semester for an undergraduate certificate in Sports Governance, of which Prof. Roger Pielke's current Sports Governance class would be a cornerstone. Also in the works is a professional master's program through the SGC, one for which Pielke hopes to gain approval in time to begin recruiting students for the fall of 2018.

Meanwhile, the current SGC class has about 90 members this year (up from 80 a year ago), a signal that demand for the class should be steady; and the list of guest speakers and lecturers to the class continues to be a "Who's Who" of the world of sports governance.

Pielke is understandably proud of all the advancements in the span of barely a year. A professor in CU's Environmental Studies Program, he founded the SGC as a combination of his passions: governance and sports.

But another area Pielke has been eager to advance since the idea for the SGC first began to percolate in his mind is a strong connection between the community, the university and the athletic department.

There is, he believes, a bond that can be created that can be beneficial to each group — and one of the ways he is creating that bond is an annual "Distinguished Lecture" series. Each year, Pielke's aim is to bring to Boulder someone at the forefront of current sports governance issues and host a public talk in the CU Champions Center.

This year's distinguished lecturer is Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. Tygart will speak next Tuesday (Feb. 21) at 7 p.m. in the Petry & Harrington Family Auditorium on the third floor of the CU Athletic Department Champions Center.

The lecture is open to the public and there is no admission.

"To me, it's exactly what a university should be doing," Pielke said. "I want to use our Sports Governance class to leverage more community involvement — the campus, people in Boulder and, of course, the athletic department. It's the sort of thing that not only stitches the athletic department closer together with the academic side — something no other university is doing — but it also brings into the equation the community. We can be a liaison of sorts that provides a great atmosphere for learning about issues and an environment to discuss them in."

Tygart is no stranger to anyone who follows sports. While he may be most famous as "the man who brought Lance Armstrong to justice," Tygart's body of work involves far more than his successful efforts involving the one-time cycling star. He has been recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of "The Most 50 Powerful People in Sports," and in 2013 was named to the "Time 100" list of most influential people in the world.

Tygart, a lawyer by training, is also considered to be an expert on Title IX and antitrust issues in sport.

Tygart and Armstrong both spoke to Pielke's Sports Governance class last year. This year, Pielke is bringing Tygart back for a public session.

Tygart lecture, entitled "Foxes in the Henhouse: From the Russian Doping Scandal to Global Anti-Doping Reform" will address the recent Russian doping scandal in which government officials have been accused in taking part in a widespread Olympic doping program.

The New York Times was one of the first publications to report the depth of the program, saying it had "few, if any, historical precedents."

What: Guest appearance from U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart

When: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21

Where: The Petry & Harrington Family Auditorium (Third-Floor), CU Athletic Department Champions Center, Stadium Drive

Admission: Free

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu