The Southeastern Conference on Wednesday introduced its inaugural SEC Opportunity Forum class, 15 university and conference administrators who are participating in a year-long program designed to connect mid- to senior-level administrators in the SEC from historically underrepresented groups with industry leaders and assist them with advancement in the profession.
Tennessee's representative in this inaugural SEC Opportunity Forum class is Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff Marcus Hilliard. A 2009 UT graduate who also has collegiate athletics administrative experience at Duke, UCF and Austin Peay, Hilliard oversees Tennessee Athletics' human resources and NIL efforts while working closely with Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Danny White on strategic planning and other special projects.
"The Southeastern Conference and its member institutions are committed to expanding the diversity of our athletics department leadership," SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. "It is important for the conference and its member institutions to achieve measurable and sustained progress in increasing diversity and representation of historically underrepresented groups in athletics positions, consistent with the overall educational mission."
The SEC Opportunity Forum is one result of SEC Bylaw 23, a Conference rule adopted by the SEC Presidents and Chancellors in 2021 to encourage, facilitate and assist member institutions in attracting, hiring and retaining individuals from historically underrepresented groups in the leadership of athletics departments, particularly in the roles of athletics director, head coach and senior woman administrator (SWA) and in positions that typically lead to those roles.
Phase I of the SEC Opportunity Forum focuses on administrators in the SEC who aspire to become an athletics director or conference commissioner. Future aspects of the Forum will be designed to engage coaches who are on the verge of being named a head coach and administrators and coaches who are earlier in their careers.
The four-part series of engagements in 2022-23 includes in-person sessions at the SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, in October, the SEC Football Championship in Atlanta in December and the SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida, in May. There will also be at least one virtual session on a date to be determined.
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