PULLMAN, Wash. — The future of the Pac-12 was among a variety of topics conference leaders discussed Thursday morning.
Washington State University (WSU) President Kirk Schulz and new Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould met via Zoom to discuss the future of the conference. The new commissioner discussed the importance of ensuring the student-athletes at WSU and Oregon State University (OSU) have someone to advocate and represent them at the highest level.
“There hasn't been a night that has gone by that I haven't thought about the more than 1,000 student athletes on the campuses of Oregon State and Washington state,” Gould said. “There are more than 1,000 young people, men and women who went to those two campuses with dreams of competing at the highest level, competing for national championships and having a great student athlete experience. And all I could think about was that they need a leader that is prepared to fight for them, a leader that's prepared to fight on their behalf. And I want to be that leader.”
Gould said the reputation and conviction of the two universities has "inspired" her to want to represent the athletes on the campus.
"We have programs on these two campuses that compete at the highest level and I wanted to be the leader that fought on behalf of those student athletes and their future," Gould said. "So there is a portion of this job that is really around advocacy and representation, and making sure that I'm utilizing the seat at the table that we have to support their future and advocate for the future of this industry."
Both leaders expressed the importance of keeping the Pac-12 branding alive, such as using the logo and other intellectual property.
"It's super important that we maintain the legacy of this conference, and that we have archives of the history and the current competition in this conference," Gould said.
Keeping the Pac-12 alive is important to Schulz because he believes there is an importance in maintaining a power conference on the West Coast.
"Somebody comes to Washington State or Oregon State to participate in our community be part of Pullman be part of Corvallis," Schulz said. "They're not interested in being part of something on the East Coast or around the Midwest. And I think we just got to keep that as a core principle in mind. "
Leaders expressed their gratitude towards both the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference in finding homes for the universities' sports programs. The conferences have agreed on a two-year partnership with WSU and OSU.
The WSU university president has maintained open communication with both conferences on their position within the next two years, he says they are not focused on leaving or what the programs can get out of the partnership.
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