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by Shelly Poe, Auburn University Assistant AD/Communications
Past CoSIDA President
Christianson, the NCAA Managing Director of External Affairs at the NCAA, is the recipient of CoSIDA's distinguished Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award.
Erik Christianson always liked to play.
“Sports were always important to me growing up,” says the three-sport athlete from Minnesota, who “played everything, a lot of organized activity and unorganized activity as well.” He played football, basketball and baseball in high school and, after attending Normandale Community College, he transferred to the University of Northwestern-St. Paul (then an NAIA school, now a member of NCAA Division III) and decided to try out for the baseball team.
“I missed competing, and I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could play at the college level, so I worked hard, went to tryouts, and I was as surprised as anybody that I made the team.
“It was a really meaningful experience. I got to play some, and I started some; we had an up and d
own season, and our coach got cancer and missed part of the season. That made it somewhat challenging on a personal and emo
tional level, but I firmly believe I greatly benefitted from the experience.”
But a love of athletics had to compete with a love of the world of words and messages. “It w
as really hard to decide, but I knew it would be
challenging to keep playing and do
some of the other things I was interested in as well. I helped start a magazine and did an internship and things like that, and in the end, I didn’t keep playing.”
That was because of his interest in communications.
“I was always interested in the news. I read the newspaper even when I was a kid -- growing up around the Twin Cities, there were four daily papers -- and liked to keep up with current affairs and sports.
“My parents didn’t attend college – although they were accomplished people (dad, a military vet, was an administrator in a large sheriff’s office; mom was a teacher’s aide) -- so the college thing was kind of new in our family. I had an uncle who was a doctor but no one else had really gone.
“Trying to schedule, I thought I should take some classes in things I’m interested in, so I took a mixed media class, and the same professor was teaching a journalism class, and that linked with some English credits.
“Growing up, I didn’t really like English a whole lot. I never felt like I had an English teacher who explained the ‘why’ but in taking that journalism class, the ‘why’ crystallized – why you write things a certain way, why you explain things a certain way -- and it all came together. I was interested in both journalism and mass communications. I wanted to be a journalist for a while and then maybe become a professor or go to law school and maybe into federal law enforcement, because of the connections with my dad.
“I was a journalist for about five years, and got a master’s degree during that time. I was fortunate to land an internship at the Chicago Tribune, which was the fifth-largest paper in the country at that time, and that was a great experience.”
Yet journalism eventually merged with Christianson’s interest in public affairs and, ultimately, higher education.
An acquaintance from grad school who attended Christianson’s church told him of an opening with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, and the appeal of family life in Madison lured him into state government. “It was a great entrée into strategic communications and issues management, advocating for a particular point of view. That led to a position, also in Madison, on campus at the University of Wisconsin, at a time when the university was forward-minded in being more proactive in communications.”
As a communication specialist for the campus, Christianson found a blueprint for his future role at the NCAA. “During my time at Wisconsin,
we rebranded the office from news and public affairs to communications, and tried to tell the story of the university through every opportunity and platform. In my role, I paid attention to university administration issues and worked a lot with athletics on all sorts of issues. We all knew the value of the relationship between campus communications and athletics communications, and we had a good one. That continued when I went to work with the system president, dealing with all the campuses in the state in the university system.”
Take those elements full circle and you arrive at the perfect fusion for a man who is charged with helping the National Collegiate Athletic Association tell its story and the stories of more than 460,000 student-athletes nationwide. As the NCAA’s managing director for external affairs, Christianson oversees public and media relations, issues management, web and multimedia communications and social media for the NCAA.
And as one of CoSIDA’s most ardent and effective boosters, Christianson will receive the 2015 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award, given to an individual who has made a lasting contribution of excellence to intercollegiate athletics and has been a loyal supporter of CoSIDA and its mission. The award will be presented on June 17 during CoSIDA's annual convention in Orlando. The CoSIDA event takes place at the World Center Marriott in conjunction with NACDA and Affiliates Convention Week.
Christianson went to the NCAA national office in 2004 as its director of public and media relations at a time when the NCAA was also trying to be more proactive and strategic.
“We were trying to focus more on issues and less on just answering questions,” Christianson recalls, “and I felt like I had a good sense of what the issues were.
“I started asking the question, ‘How do we work with our members?’ I got the answer that they had a pretty good relationship with our statistics group – which made perfect sense – but then I asked, ‘What about on everything else? How do we work together?’ and the answer I got most often was, ‘We don’t really do that.’ I said, ‘I think that needs to change’ and one of the places I started was with CoSIDA.”
Christianson attended his first CoSIDA convention and workshop in Calgary in 2004, going to meet and talk to people and observe what went on. “People were wonderful, although a few did ask me why I was there (“You’re not with statistics?”) and we began to talk about how we could work together in telling the story of the student-athlete.
“About that same time, we were rolling out a program and I got a call the day of the national announcement from the SID at a major Division I school and this person said, ‘I had no idea; I’ve been playing catch-up all day.’ I thought that was odd, because I asked here when we sent the communication out where it went and I was told it goes to the AD, it goes to the president, it goes to the commissioners. And I thought, ‘Uh-oh.’ I just assumed it would get to the communicators.
“That’s when I saw that some things need to change and I thought: ‘I think I’m in a position where I can help.’
“That began the process of thinking hard about how do we work together – there’s no way we’re going to effectively tell the story of the student-athlete without involving our members – so how do we do it together, in a more strategic way?
“And in addition to that, how do we do things so that those who work in communications feel like they have a seat at the table from the
beginning, to better make things happen? It seemed to me there were a number of things we could help with from the national office to help campus leaders understand all of the value that communicators bring to the table, and help communicators learn how to get to the table.”
Thus began Christianson’s visible, vocal support of the communications professionals within college athletics and his advocacy of CoSIDA that continues to grow exponentially. Not coincidentally, his tenure at the NCAA mirrors a timeline of incredible growth and breadth of scope for our organization and its mission.
“He helped open doors and foster relationships and he continues to be one of CoSIDA’s biggest advocates,” CoSIDA secretary Jeff Hodges of North Alabama recalls, mentioning Christianson’s invitation for CoSIDA leaders to visit the NCAA headquarters and NCAA convention for meetings with key administrators, his impetus in building a relationship with the NCAA’s Division II and Division III executives, and his work in obtaining the financial support the NCAA provided to expand the Academic All-America program to better recognize all divisions of competition.
“Without the doors that Erik opened for us in Indianapolis, we would not have the extremely successful divisional partnerships that we have today,” Bill Wagner of DePauw, a former D3SIDA president, said. “He was incredibly helpful and instrumental in giving us a voice on the national level and in building our divisional structure.”
“Erik Christianson has played in instrumental role in the NCAA’s relationship with CoSIDA. His emphasis on the selling of the positives of the intercollegiate athletics model fit well with our role as strategic communicators,” former CoSIDA president Charles Bloom of South Carolina acknowledges. “Erik understands the importance of CoSIDA in promoting college athletics and has been passionate in developing the relationship. Erik is the one who stressed a better connection between the NCAA and CoSIDA and every member of our organization is better for it.”
Christianson has also seen a change in the connection with the NCAA and its members.
“I’m really pleased that our members feel like they can work with us. At times previously, there may have even been a perception of an adversarial relationship, which is really antithetical to a membership organization. I believe that working together, we’ve been able to elevate the profession as well. These are individuals who are shaping the narrative of college sports, which is as important as ever now.
“There are some who want the narrative to be quite different and believe that, by looking at a small segment of the enterprise, the enterprise is failing or doesn’t have a place in higher education. While there’s always room for improvement, collectively we need to work together in a proactive, strategic fashion to tell a real story of what’s happening on our campuses.”
The same type of proactive, strategic growth, Christianson says, has become a hallmark of CoSIDA.
“I’m really impressed with CoSIDA and its willingness to challenge where they were. While they were very comfortable and doing a lot of good work, your
members challenged themselves. The industry is changing, the world is changing, so communication is even more relevant, and we need to continue to push ourselves.”
“I have been so impressed with Erik’s willingness to help all divisions
grow across the board,” says Rich Herman of Clarion, a former D2SIDA
president. “Through his direction, we immediately had increased credibility and access. I am glad we can thank him and let him know what a positive impact his support has had on our profession.”
“I’ve always appreciated Erik’s professionalism and friendly demeanor. His work on behalf of CoSIDA and his insights into our business have been so valuable to much of the progress CoSIDA has made over the past decade,” Wisconsin associate athletic director Justin Doherty, a former CoSIDA president, says. “He is very deserving of the Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award.”
“Erik was one of the very first people in the summer of 2008 that fully bought into CoSIDA’s strategic plan. He made it clear to our leadership team that he wanted to help in any way possible and he did just that,” says John Humenik, CoSIDA’s first executive director. “He helped CoSIDA in building valued partnerships within the entire NCAA management structure, and his public support greatly aided our organization
in establishing additional credibility with other important groups within the intercollegiate community.”
That credibility has helped CoSIDA, formerly an all-volunteer organization, build a full-time staff, rebrand its organization, join with the NACDA affiliates and other like-missioned professional organizations, and expand its activities into those of a year-round continuing education and professional development concern. Christianson thinks those advances align with his organization’s mission.
“When you talk about telling the story of the student-athlete, communication is the vehicle, so I’m glad we were able to bring CoSIDA closer with our NCAA staff and elevate the role of communicators in athletics. That in turn helps elevate college athletics and you are elevating higher education. That was my goal; that continues to be my goal.
“I would very much like to see CoSIDA and its members and the NCAA continue to work together to further illuminate the value of college sports, regardless of the size of school, mission of institution, how much financial aid you’re providing, whether you’re on television every week or not. We need to talk about the value of the experience, and the college part matters most.”
Much of that emphasis traces back to Erik Christianson, student-athlete.
“That experience gave me a personal connection to our enterprise and the challenges and opportunities that face student-athletes. Those dynamics are the same at a big or small school – the things that you learn that go along with being a student-athlete.
“All of those things we talk about – teamwork, putting aside personal ambitions for a greater good, time management, getting along with others who are different from you – I draw upon that experience even today in my work.
“I think it’s why parents want their kids to be involved in athletics, because of that educational value of what you learn outside a classroom setting. We work in an industry that has to constantly innovate to support the mission of supporting the student-athletes.”
Toward that aim, Christianson will continue “trying to do the right thing. I’ve been able to do that in my role and I’m grateful that we’re getting to a point where people feel the NCAA staff is here to assist and connect our members. That’s a big part of my focus here.”
“Erik has taken great steps to keep us better informed about the priorities of the national office. In addition, he's been instrumental in finding ways to highlight the great stories taking place every day by our league's student-athletes, coaches, teams, administrators and institutions,” Amy Yakola, the ACC’s senior associate commissioner, says. “I think Erik has created an improved dialog between the conferences and the national office. This has allowed us to better work together by outlining opportunities and being more cohesive in how we approach collegiate athletics.”
“Erik is the consummate professional -- which is to say that he is loyal, trustworthy, smart and friendly,” says Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff. “When he joined the NCAA, he immediately had a positive effect on the level of transparency and in enhancing relationships. Erik was given the resources to really think strategically, and everyone who gets to be around Erik learns from his quiet, efficient, honest manner.”
CoSIDA has certainly learned a great deal from Erik Christianson, and its members are grateful he remains in their corner.
Photo credits: CoSIDA (top photos); Sports PR Summit (middle photo); JJ Kaplan Photography (bottom photo).