Move the needle.
There is a new face in the athletics department. Kimberly Miller was recently hired as the Athletic Director of Colorado Mesa University
Miller grew up playing softball and cheerleading in Westoro, North Carolina. Miller has worked in sports management for over 20 years and her experience has led her all over the country.
There is one constant about Miller through all of it: multiple sources have noted her infectious optimism and ambition, a small window into the person she is.
Miller was first interested in sports management when her high school softball coach sat her down and asked what she was interested in studying for college. Miller was initially interested in business, until her coach suggested majoring in sports management, to which Miller responded: “There’s a major where I get to play sports all the time?”
Miller looked further into the major and decided that she wanted to be around sports as a career. She enrolled at Winston-Salem University (WSU) and continued to play softball. She continued to play up until only a couple of years ago.
As an undergraduate, Miller got her first experience as an intern with the WSU Athletic Department. Miller wanted more experience, so she took a flurry of internships to further her career.
Miller worked towards her Masters of Science from High Point University in North Carolina. However, she needed more internship practicum experience to graduate.
That need prompted her to take a job as an administrative intern/relocation assistant for the Charlotte Bobcats in 2005. This was a career altering moment for herself, because Miller confirmed during this time that she enjoyed working with collegiate athletes more than pro athletes.
After earning her Master’s degree from High Point University, Miller moved back home to a full-time position as the Assistant Athletic Director and Senior Woman Administrator for Shaw University (Shaw) in North Carolina in 2006.
In a change of pace, Miller would remain there for 10 years and began to work towards a doctorate degree. Miller also delved into coaching and became the head softball coach for six years at Shaw. A softball fanatic at heart, Miller played competitively, on top of coaching, and even won a 2013 USSSA Women’s Class C World Softball Championship.
“Overall in my career, every stop that I’ve been at, I just take things that I’ve learned and use that knowledge to [enhance the positions I’ve been in.]. I want to move the needle [forward],” Miller said.
Miller wanted classroom experience teaching sports management before completing her doctorate. She taught her first class at Livingston College in North Carolina for six months before working for Western Colorado University as a consultant.
Miller had never lived in the West, but decided to take the leap and accept the job.
Eventually, Miller found a full-time job at Savannah State in Georgia and helped them make the transition from a Division I to a Division II school. She served there for a year and a half until she applied for a deputy athletic job at Augustana State in South Dakota.
She landed the job and would also work as the director of compliance and the senior woman administrator.
Last spring, Miller saw an opening for an athletic director position at CMU after the former athletic director Bryan Rooms transitioned into another role.
“This is my education and this is what I’ve been doing for the last 20 years. I wanted to learn as much as I could, so that when I did get the right position I would be ready and very experienced. My goal was to become a collegiate athletic director at the right institution, the right fit, and got blessed with this opportunity. So, I’m very happy,” Miller said.
Miller reflected over her career and how she got to where she is today. Miller said that she faced discrimination along the way, stemming from her identity as a Black woman in a field predominantly run by white males.
“At the end of the day, you experience a lot because you’re a woman, and then you experience more if you’re an African-American woman. I’ve had people just not want to invest in me… Things have been said along the way, but you take it with a grain of salt and push forward and don’t let those negative comments impact how you want to grow professionally,” Miller said.
Miller expressed interest in working cohesively with the coaches to further the department as a whole.
Miller acknowledged the many strides the department had recently made, but is also confident the school can achieve even more, primarily bringing home the school’s first ever NCAA-regulated national championship.
“I hope that the energy and optimism that I have will influence the coaches [and the athletic trainers] to go that extra mile. And the strength and conditioning training [to also] go the extra mile in that way. [I’m also going to] push myself to go the extra mile, so that we can get there. I really feel that, within the next two to three years, we should have a national championship here. [I’m] hoping that we have one this year. I know we can get there,” Miller said.
