Charles Dean in front of Roberts Pavilion

Charles Dean Selected for NCAA's Whitcomb Leadership Institute

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Assistant athletic trainer and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee Coordinator Charles Dean was selected to attend the NCAA's Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute in Dallas this month.

The Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute provides tailored programming to assist ethnic minorities in strategically mapping and planning their careers in athletics administration by providing professional development programming over the course of a calendar year, which includes one-week programs at the beginning and conclusion of that year.

Dean was one of 18 first-year attendees representing all three NCAA Divisions, as well as the national NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis. He was one of four representatives selected from NCAA Division III institutions. 

Dean joined the CMS full-time staff as an assistant athletic trainer in August of 2018, and added the role of DEI Committee Coordinator in 2020. Prior to CMS, he spent two years at California State University, Fullerton as a graduate assistant athletic trainer, where he obtained his Master of Science degree in kinesiology, emphasizing in sport and performance psychology

Dean's work with the DEI committee earned CMS recognition in the NCAA's Division III Diversity Spotlight Initiative in April of 2021. The Diversity Spotlight Initiative recognizes and promotes outstanding diversity-related projects, programming and initiatives occurring on Division III campuses and in conference offices. 

The CMS DEI committee created the DEI Learning Club, which conducts monthly seminars and features a speaker series to address a variety of topics to advance the committee's goal of developing an athletics environment that promotes diverse representation, creates equal opportunity for all, and offers opportunities for all individuals to be heard and respected.

The monthly DEI Learning Club seminars have been regularly attended by dozens of coaches and staff members from the CMS athletics department, often centering on articles or videos to serve as a springboard to discussion. In addition to the seminars, the DEI Committee also began a featured speaker series in 2021, which are open to student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff, with presentations featuring well over 100 attendees. 

To learn more about the NCAA's Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute, go to the following link: 

Dr. Charles Whitcomb Leadership Institute