Welcome to the De León Point
Welcome to the first installment of a monthly email update on ACU Athletics. Hopefully, you will feel that it is “on point.”
First, thanks to the Wildcat community for the tremendous welcome that you have given to Lacey, Landon, Luke and me since we moved to Abilene in December. Each person I’ve met in our first couple of months here in Abilene has been so gracious and kind to all four of us.
I never thought I would live in Abilene; I had never been here until my interview with Dr. Schubert last fall. But I strongly feel that God led me to ACU, and for the first time in my life, I believe I’m doing exactly what God created me to do. There’s no better feeling in the world!
Our head football coach, Ken Collums, likes to say that the ACU football program is “the most unique experience in college football” because of what our program offers in terms of spirituality and competitiveness, and I couldn’t agree more. Our vision for all of our teams is to win at the highest level by providing the most Christ-centered student-athlete experience in collegiate athletics. I hope that you will partner with us to achieve that goal.
I want each of our lettermen, fans, donors and alumni to know that I don’t take that vision lightly, and neither does any member of the athletics staff. We will win. We will graduate student-athletes. We will be excellent. And we will impact student-athletes for Christ.
New associate athletics director hired
Adding to the experience and talent of the athletics staff is Dave Kinard, who filled the new position of associate director of athletics for external operations on Feb. 9. Dave will oversee all revenue generation for our department: marketing, fundraising, tickets, licensing, concessions and sponsorships.
Dave comes to us from Boise State, where he was associate athletics director and executive director of the Bronco Athletic Association from 2012-14. He is a superstar in this business. He’s a great fundraiser and a marketing expert, and he will help take this ACU Athletics to a higher level. For more info, please read the press release announcing his hiring.
Athletics mission, vision, slogan unveiled
My personal mission statement – to make an impact for Jesus Christ through college athletics – has shaped the course of my career, so I sat down with our administrative staff and head coaches to hammer out new mission and vision statements and an accompanying slogan and social-media hashtag. What we’ve come up with is what ACU Athletics has always been about – and will continue to be about during my tenure.
• Our mission in ACU Athletics is to honor Christ through excellence in academics and athletics.
• Our vision for ACU Athletics is to win at the highest level by providing the most Christ-centered student-athlete experience in collegiate athletics.
• Our slogan and social media hashtag are “Excellence for Christ” and #ACUE4C.
A few thoughts about each of those items:
• Mission: God will be glorified and honored by everything we do, both on the field and in the classroom. I don’t want a day to go by where we aren’t thinking of ways to honor Jesus Christ through excellence in all we say and do.
• Vision: This falls in line with the university’s 21st-Century Vision, which says that by 2020, “ACU will become the premier university for the education of Christ-centered, global leaders.” That’s a powerful statement, and it describes the same goals and ideals that I want for our coaches, staff and student-athletes. I don’t want us ever to forget that we’re here to help each student-athlete earn a degree and grow closer to a real life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Along the way, we want to provide them the opportunity to win championships at the highest level of collegiate athletics.
• Slogan: “Excellent” is my expectation for everything we do, whether raising money, putting out a media guide, coaching, recruiting or taping a player’s ankles. We’ll do it all in an excellent way that honors Jesus Christ. The hashtag is pretty self-explanatory: #ACUE4C (ACU Excellence for Christ). You’ll see that hashtag – along with #GoWildcats – on emails, publications, business cards, social media posts, etc., and we want you to know what it means so that you can begin using it, too.
Vision in Action updates
The new track and field/soccer stadium in the northwest quadrant of campus is nearing completion. A few weeks ago, the track and field team was given the go-ahead to begin training on the purple track surface, and head coach Keith Barnier reports that it’s a great track.
The new fieldhouse north of the track will house our track and field program, with coaches’ offices, team meeting rooms, locker rooms and a training room. It will be completed about March 1, allowing our track coaches to all be under one roof for the first time in many years.
The facility will host its first track and field meet Saturday, April 11. The second Wes Kittley Invitational will include Texas Tech, TCU, South Plains College and Western Texas College to campus. Don’t be fooled by the presence of South Plains and Western Texas; those two junior college programs have some of the finest talent in the world on their teams, and they’ll be showcasing them at our new facility.
The night before, we’ll induct five deserving members of our track and field program into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame. We’ll announce the names on acusports.com in a few days, but make your plans now to be at the banquet on Friday, April 10, and the track meet the next day. The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. in Teague Special Events Center, and you can purchase tickets by calling 325-674-2353.
We continue to make progress on the fundraising for Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. So far, we have raised an impressive $19.7 million! Thank you to those who have already contributed. If you are still interested in helping us reach our fundraising goal, please contact Dave Kinard or me.
You’re hearing it here first: The demolition of Elmer Gray Stadium is scheduled to begin March 18. That will clear the way for construction to begin on our football team's new home once fundraising is complete. The future is taking shape!
Finally, I look forward to getting to know you, either in your hometown or the next time you're on campus. Until then, you are welcome to reach out to me at athleticdirector@acu.edu with ideas, comments or questions about ACU Athletics.
Go Wildcats!
Lee De León
Director of Athletics
Abilene Christian University
