From the Desk of Bernard Muir: October 2024

Dear Cardinal Faithful,

Welcome back to another exciting year of Cardinal athletics!  I hope you are well and already enjoying cheering on our inspirational Stanford student-athletes.  As we kick off the 2024-25 year, I am pleased to introduce this new, quarterly newsletter developed to keep you better informed about all that is happening within Stanford Athletics.

REFLECTING ON 2023-24
The 2023-24 athletic year brought us many reasons to celebrate. We not only maintained our proud streak of winning at least one NCAA team championship in each of the past 48 years (in fact, we won several), but the Cardinal also achieved unprecedented success at the Paris Olympics. Stanford sent 59 total affiliates to compete in the Games, including 14 current student-athletes. This total represents the most we have ever sent to participate in a singular Olympic Games. These 59 competitors earned 39 medals, which is more than any one institution has ever captured in an Olympics. To put it in perspective, if Stanford were a country, we would have tied Canada for 11th in the overall medal count. This extraordinary performance brought immense pride to the Stanford  community, and it has also provided well-deserved visibility for our student-athletes, and department, creating tremendous momentum as we head into the fall season.

ACC TRANSITION
On August 2, we entered into a new era for Stanford Athletics, as we officially joined the Atlantic Coast Conference. Our strong national presence, combined with the expanded competitive and exposure opportunities in the ACC, will help us grow our reach and fan base, and we have already felt a lift in national visibility due to the ACC’s television partnerships.

When we first accepted the invitation to join the ACC, one of the changes we knew we’d need to address was new travel logistics, as approximately half of Cardinal student-athletes - or about 400 students - will encounter increased travel obligations as a result of the move to the ACC. This has been a priority for all of us and we’ve been working to address any potential disruptions for our student-athletes starting the day we announced the ACC transition. Notably, Provost Jenny Martinez commissioned a faculty-led ACC Task Force this spring, which has resulted in the University taking  a number of actions to address the new travel realities, including working with the ACC to optimize scheduling to minimize missed class time, providing access to Wi-Fi on airplanes and in hotels when feasible, creating a new Teaching Commons resource for faculty that consolidates academic policy information, as well as close monitoring of student-athlete academic experience and wellbeing during this first year.

As we continue to see shifts in the conference alignment landscape, we are grateful for our new home in the ACC and hope that our early fall sport success is indicative of a bright future in our new setting.

FRESH FACES ON THE FARM
This year saw two of the most influential coaching figures in collegiate women’s sports step down from their posts here at Stanford: The Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women’s Basketball, Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in college basketball, and The Peter and Helen Bing Director of Women’s Tennis, Lele Forood, who has claimed 10 women’s tennis national titles. While these two legends will be missed immensely here on The Farm, we are thrilled to welcome a host of new head coaches in Kate Paye (women’s basketball), Frankie Brennan (women’s tennis), Alexander Massialas (fencing) and Kyle Smith (men’s basketball). Coaches are so impactful to our student-athletes’ experience here at Stanford, and I am excited about the new energy and fresh perspectives that this talented new crop will bring into our department.  For those who can, we encourage you to come see these new coaches at work in person as they are all remarkable leaders and tacticians.

NATIONAL LANDSCAPE CHANGES
As you know, college sports are undergoing significant changes across many different areas.  Having the right internal and external partnerships will be critical to our success, and our leadership team is collaborating closely with many groups and individuals to navigate complex issues such as revenue sharing, name, image and likeness (NIL), and more. Collaboration with University leadership and our Athletic Affairs Committee, as well as ongoing communication with the Lifetime Cardinal Collective provides us with the vision and support to position ourselves for success both now and in the future.

NEAR TERM PRIORITIES
As we navigate this changing landscape, it is critical that we centralize our focus on several key priorities. Most importantly, we are committed to ensuring our teams are well-positioned for success now and in the future. That commitment will be supported by our efforts to a) expand our revenue generation playbook and b) develop an updated fundraising strategy that will accelerate and advance competitive excellence now while also fortifying our core, foundational needs. We have had early successes on both fronts and look forward to sharing our next steps with you soon. 

To everyone who has supported us in these efforts through gifts to Stanford Athletics and the Buck/Cardinal Club, thank you! We are grateful for your support and could not do this without you.

LOOKING AHEAD
The landscape of college sports is evolving rapidly, and this new era demands adaptability, creativity, and collaboration. It also presents an opportunity to position Stanford for continued excellence and leadership on the national stage. With the same competitive spirit demonstrated so consistently by our student-athletes, I believe we can serve as a model for success amidst change and uncertainty.

I am excited about this new chapter and hope you are as well. Our teams will be traveling to many new locations and hosting exciting new opponents, and I hope you will check schedules on GoStanford.com and attend a game to support them when possible. If you can’t attend a game in person, I would encourage you to tune into ESPN and the ACC Network for comprehensive and in-depth coverage of our contests.

Thank you for your ongoing dedication and support of Stanford Athletics.

Go Card,

Bernard M. Muir
Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics
Stanford University