Akron to Develop Leadership Academy for Student-Athletes, Aided By $1.25M Cline Family Gift

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Akron, Ohio– Beginning in the 2019-20 academic year, the University of Akron (UA) will institute an Athletics Leadership Academy, thanks to the generous donation from Keith A. Cline, Jr. '92 '02, and Stephanie L. Cline '94.

The Clines have committed $1.25 million to establish and operate the Athletics Leadership Academy and create an endowment for the Leadership Academy, ensuring that it will become an integral and lasting component of Akron Athletics. This gift gives the UA coaches and staff the tools to make a difference in the lives and careers of every student-athlete at The University of Akron.

The Leadership Academy will be known as the "Keith A. Jr. and Stephanie L. Cline Athletics Leadership Academy".

"Stephanie and I are honored to partner with our alma mater in such an important endeavor," said Keith A. Cline, Jr. "Success in sports, business, and for that matter, life, is heavily influenced by our ability to be an effective and impactful leader. Each person takes a unique path in developing his or her own skillset and experiences as a leader, and we are excited and hopeful about the student-athlete lives that can be influenced."

The Leadership Academy is privately funded aimed to equip the student-athletes at UA with the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success both during and after their collegiate careers. The Academy will provide year-round opportunities for advancement in five key areas: leadership training, career development, community engagement, personal enrichment, and letterwinner engagement.

As part of the Leadership Academy, the University's letterwinners' association, the Varsity "A", will be integrated into the Academy. Varsity "A" members will be asked to serve as mentors to the University's 500+ student-athletes.

The Department of Athletics also will be partnering with academic departments across campus to provide experiential learning and leadership development opportunities for student-athletes.

"Keith and Stephanie have provided the Department of Athletics, the University, and student-athletes for years to come with a truly transformational gift," said Larry Williams, Director of Athletics. "Our primary objective is to provide the best opportunities to our student-athletes through meaningful and impactful experiences on and off the field. The Keith A. Jr. and Stephanie L. Cline Athletics Leadership Academy will help us to reach our goals of 100% graduation rate and 100% job placement rate for our student-athletes when they graduate."

Interim President John C. Green said, "The generosity of the Clines and their desire to provide additional resources to help fully develop our student-athletes is truly remarkable. This commitment is a strong demonstration of their own leadership and service, and we are most grateful."

The generous gift from the Clines will be formally accepted during the regular meeting of the UA Board of Trustees on August 14.

About the Cline Family
Keith A. Cline, Jr., is president & CEO of CorePoint Lodging Inc. CorePoint Lodging is the only public U.S. lodging real estate investment trust (REIT) strategically focused on the midscale and upper-midscale select-service segments. CorePoint owns a portfolio of 310 hotels and more than 40,000 rooms in attractive locations and in key markets throughout the United States.

CorePoint is a relatively new entity – a spin-off of the well-known La Quinta brand. CorePoint began trading on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CPLG and is currently the largest franchisee of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Cline served as president & CEO of La Quinta from February 2016 to May 2018. He established La Quinta as a leading hotel brand with a strategy of driving consistency in product, in delivering an outstanding guest experience, and engagement with the La Quinta brand. Prior to becoming president & CEO of La Quinta, Cline served as executive vice president & chief financial officer, leading the company through its 2014 initial public offering on the NYSE under the ticker symbol LQ.

Before joining La Quinta, he also served as Senior Vice President of Finance at Express, Inc. and held various leadership roles at L Brands, FedEx Custom Critical, and The J.M. Smucker Company.

Cline also serves on the American Hotel & Lodging Association Board, the Texas FFA Foundation Board, and is a member of World 50, a private global community of senior executives. He is a summa cum laude graduate of The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting ('92) and a Master of Business Administration ('02).

Stephanie L. Cline is a graduate of The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work ('94). Her passion for helping others inspired her to pursue this field of study and for much of her time since graduating from The University of Akron, she has been dedicated to their family raising four children.
Stephanie donates her time and resources to support several charitable organizations that focus on military veterans, spouses and caregivers, the abolishment of human trafficking, and current social and political issues.

The couple resides in Southlake, Texas, with their children Evan, Brandon, Logan, and Lauren.

About the Cline Athletics Leadership Academy
The Cline Athletics Leadership Academy will provide comprehensive leadership development programming for student-athletes. The purpose of the Academy is to develop student-athletes as effective and vocal team leaders for today and successful worldwide leaders for tomorrow. With the scope and depth of the leadership training, the Leadership Academy distinguishes UA as having one of the finest leadership development programs to benefit student-athletes.

Leadership development programming for student-athletes targets three specific groups based upon their classification as well as their readiness to assume leadership roles:

First-Year Leaders
Emergent Leaders
Veteran Leaders

Career Education
Across all 20 NCAA-sponsored sports, graduating student-athletes will be afforded the opportunity to participate in the Suited for Success Career Series. The goal of the six-session series is to equip participants with increased career capacity, by focusing on interview skills, individualized career assessment and counseling, resume building, etiquette training, and networking skills.

Character Development
Through a multi-faceted approach student-athletes will be provided relevant programming and educational opportunities. The goal of these programs is to provide the educational support necessary for student-athletes and teams as they become "the best versions of themselves".

Key Component: Leadership Class - A class will be offered to student-athletes designed to challenge their minds and allow them to reflect on their leadership experiences throughout their academic and athletic careers.

Leadership
On a yearly basis, head coaches will have the privilege of selecting team leaders for several distinguished leadership opportunities, including the leadership class titled "High Impact Leadership", the Akron Athletics Captains Circle and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Life Skills
On a yearly basis, entering freshmen and junior college transfer student-athletes will participate in Summer Bridge and the Life Skills course. The purpose and goal of the Life Skills programming is to inform, prepare, and equip our student-athletes with necessary resources to ensure that their transition to UA is productive and enduring.

Wellness
The sports medicine, nutrition, strength and conditioning staffs will provide student-athletes with specialized programming that includes topics such as drug and alcohol awareness, healthy dieting, supplementation, recovery and nutritional guidelines. Student-athletes will have direct access and engagement with professional staff to support individual wellness needs.

Lectureship Series
On an annual basis, all student-athletes, athletics department coaches, and staff will be provided the opportunity to attend the lecture series. In accordance with feedback from coaches and administration, professional speakers will be purposely selected to provide education, motivation, and support that accommodates the needs of student-athletes and athletics department.

Community Service and Outreach Activities
Through the Cline Athletics Leadership Academy, the Department of Athletics is dedicated to extending support and gratitude to the City of Akron and surrounding communities by actively participating in community service endeavors. This past academic year, student-athletes participated in over 7,900 hours of community service.

Professional Development
Through the Cline Athletics Leadership Academy, the Department of Athletics will provide professional development opportunities for student-athletes, faculty, and staff. Individualized assessment (Myers Briggs, DiSC, etc.) will be provided annually as a tool to increase awareness and understanding of self as well as others.

The University of Akron Athletics

Akron to Develop Leadership Academy for Student-Athletes, Aided By $1.25M Cline Family Gift

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