Cheryl Levick left St. Louis as a young high school coach. She returned last year as a seasoned sports administrator and took the helm of Saint Louis University’s athletic department.
By Traci Angel
Photograph by Peter Newcomb
This motivated Pattonville High School graduate could not have picked a more dynamic time to head Saint Louis University’s athletic department. Plans for an on-campus arena are underway, SLU is joining the Atlantic 10 Conference and Levick sits on the St. Louis Organizing Committee for the Final Four, the prestigious culmination of the men’s NCAA Division I college basketball tournament, to be held here April 2 and April 4. Her interest in sports began when she was growing up—she played volleyball, basketball, gymnastics, summer softball and was on the synchronized swimming team at the University of Missouri. After years of putting her athletic administration master’s degree to use—most recently as Santa Clara University’s first female athletics director—she came home.
Your timing at SLU, with the new arena on its way and the school poised to help St. Louis host one of the biggest events in sports, is impeccable. Many athletic directors spend their careers trying to make this happen, and you’ve done it all in your first year. There were many aspects of this job that were appealing—the quality of the university, the opportunity to build an arena, the opportunity to work on the Final Four and the opportunity to come home. Those were all reasons why I took the job. I want to be involved in a program that is more active than reactive, on the local level as well as the national level.
Is it true you lived in the dorms for a few months? When I started August 1 [2004], I spent a couple months living in an apartment on campus. It was a busy time while I was in transition. I was trying to sell my home in California and I didn’t know where I wanted to live here. It was actually perfect in terms of being able to walk to the office, being right on campus and spending many hours in the office anyway. So the dorm-apartment was perfect for the first couple months, but I was ready to leave by the time I got out of it.
In addition to all your athletic department obligations—fund raising, games, NCAA rules compliance—you also asked to be on the Council of Academic Deans and Directors. Why? It is called CADD and includes deans of all the schools, and the directors of the university serve on that committee. As the director of athletics, I want to be an integral part of the entire campus, not just the athletic part. It really allows me to hear, understand and be involved in all issues around campus. I think it is important for athletic directors to be involved across the campus and not just in their own building.
You played five sports over the years. Did that play a role in your choice of a profession in athletic administration work? I always enjoyed education. I was one of those kids who loved to go to school. I also loved sports and being involved in five different sports teams. My master’s degree is in athletic administration. I knew at the time that I loved the college campus and this allowed me to combine two loves—academics and athletics.
You have a reputation for being an advocate of women’s sports. Do you think the future of Title IX (which bans gender discrimination in schools) is safe despite repeated attempts to amend the rule? The advancement of women’s and girls’ sports over the last three decades has been an incredible and wonderful occurrence. The opportunities my daughters have had to play in high school have far surpassed the opportunities I had. As long as I keep seeing progress from one generation to the next, I’m happy. Title IX might have been mandated by law, but [it has resulted in] so many cultural changes and attitude changes.
What will an arena on campus mean to the school? An on-campus arena provides a home for the athletic department; a place for all the faculty, students and fans to congregate on campus; a way to bring a home-court advantage. This arena will be a multi-use facility. We might have games one night, a concert the following night. It will be designed to be used by many for many different purposes. It’s just a place for people to congregate, get back on campus and be able to support the university and the program. It is the final facility we need to move this program from a good program to a great program.
You are serving on the committee that is bringing the NCAA Final Four here in April. What does an event of this caliber mean to the city? I am one of four members [others are representatives from the Missouri Valley Conference, St. Louis Sports Commission and St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission] from the local organizing committee to bring it here. We have been meeting to make sure this huge event will be spectacular for the city, for the fans. It is time consuming. It takes a lot of work, a lot of planning, a lot of organizing. But I believe it will be one of the best ever, and I am so excited it is happening in my hometown. This is the biggest collegiate event that happens and it is going to carry over into business for restaurants and hotels—there is really no downside.
