First-Years Begin Leadership Program with Greg Shelley

Sept. 19 - (PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Carnegie Mellon’s first-year student-athletes got together on Sunday, September 18 to receive a lesson in leadership from sports psychologist Greg Shelley. Part of the athletics department’s Excellence Forum, the leadership symposium was attended by 150 first-year athletes, as well as two dozen upperclassmen facilitators.

Director of Athletics Susan Bassett opened the program with remarks about leadership and the privilege of being a student-athlete at Carnegie Mellon. Bassett, who is in her seventh year at the helm of the athletics program, developed the Excellence Forum in 2004 with the intent of providing students, coaches and staff with the resources necessary for peak performance.

“There isn’t a coach on our staff that doesn’t want to win a UAA championship, make it to the NCAA championship and be a factor there,” Bassett told the student-athletes. “But that is not enough. You have to own those goals if that’s going to happen.”

professor at Ithaca College, Dr. Shelley is a performance consultant who has worked closely with Carnegie Mellon student-athletes and department staff for more than six years. Shelley will return to campus to lead the sophomore student-athletes through a leadership symposium in January.

“The presentation was informative and insightful, but also very motivating,” said first-year cross country runner Eamon Cullinane. “His presentation helped me get a better understanding of what kind of student-athlete I am and what kind of student-athlete I can become. I found his suggestions of self-evaluation to be innovative and useful. As a freshman, with so much chaos and change all happening at once, I never even thought about next year or even five years down the road. But after the presentation, I understand that the actions I take today will soon be the legacy I leave behind at CMU.”

Carnegie Mellon’s Excellence Forum was developed to provide student-athletes with the skills necessary to excel both on and off the field. Through its commitment to excellence, the athletics department hopes to explore cutting-edge ideas that will establish Carnegie Mellon and its student-athletes as leaders of the next generation.