A Voice For The Ivies

When Bola Bamiduro made the decision to come to Barnard College in the fall of 1997, her desire to play field hockey figured heavily into the equation. Narrowing down all the choices, she came to three schools: Columbia, Barnard, and Boston College. Most of the other universities fell off the list because she didn’t get the right feeling when she met the team. Not so at Columbia (which combines its women’s athletics programs with the all-female Barnard College). During her official visit, she immediately felt a connection with the entire team, from the coaching staff to the players. Unfortunately, life doesn’t always progress as planned, and Bola was wait-listed by both Barnard and Columbia. So, true to her nature, she adjusted to the situation at hand, and settled on attending Boston College. About a month later, she was taken off the waitlist at Barnard, withdrew her acceptance from Boston, and packed her bags for the Big Apple.

As a stand-out two-sport athlete at the all-girls National Cathedral School in Washington, DC, Bola had learned to adapt to the ever-changing stick in her hands, switching between lacrosse and field hockey depending on the season. However, she arrived at the conclusion, after speaking with college coaches and players, that her college athletic career would have to focus on only one sport. More coaches recruited her for her field hockey abilities, so the choice was made for her. In fact, when she arrived on the Barnard campus, she hadn’t yet spoken with the lacrosse staff and had no intentions of playing. Yet, there were a few “cross-over” lacrosse players on the field hockey team, and they tried to convince Bola to try both sports, at least for the first year.

That first fall field hockey season, Bola’s athletic debut was delayed by administrative red tape, her application to play stalled in the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse as she tried to explain her advanced independent studies in high school. That delay helped her decide to give lacrosse a try, although she envisioned her dual sport commitment to last only her first year, before academic and other obligations would force her to decide. Once her first year was over, Bola knew she’d have to make a decision between the two sports.

Four years later, Bola would find herself the captain of the lacrosse team, leaving behind field hockey for good. However, for all the excitement, energy, and competition that Bola would find on the lacrosse field, she would leave a much larger and lasting impression as a student-athlete leader off the field. The summer before her junior year, Bola was approached by Erin McDermott, who was at the time serving as the Compliance Assistant for Columbia’s athletics department and has since then moved into the ranks at Princeton. The Ivy League needed to find a replacement for its student representative on the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and McDermott was hoping to nominate Bola for this position. Not quite knowing what it would entail, but drawing on her appreciation for other leadership experiences she had in high school and through athletics, Bola accepted the nomination. Soon, she got the call that she had been awarded the spot, and three weeks later, she was on a plane to her first national meeting.

The role of the NCAA SAAC has increased over the past couple years, especially as student-athlete welfare issues have gotten more attention. From deciding whether or not to allow athletes to earn money on campus through work study to tackling issues of amateurism, the NCAA deals with possible legislation that could have a drastic impact on the lives of student-athletes. These issues vary greatly between schools, conferences, and sports. Student-welfare issues in the Ivy League don’t involve topics of athletically-related financial aid or having basketball players leave en masse for the professional ranks midway through college, as is the case in many other Division I conferences. However, the philosophy of SAAC, of having a formal body of students to represent the needs and opinions of their peers, remains the same across the board, regardless of sport, gender, or financial resources.

When Bola arrived at her first meeting, she got to meet student-athletes from around the country, from very different backgrounds than hers. “My mouth dropped open when I listened to stories that you hear other people saying, students from the PAC-10, Big 10, Big 12, and ACC,” Bola remembers. “They come from a totally different athletic and academic experience than myself, bringing a totally new light to the table.” Although she had heard stories in the news media about “big-time” college athletics, hearing it straight from the athletes made a greater impact on her. She would listen to stories of the thousand-dollar semester stipends that scholarship athletes would receive, and also learn how many students, never taught to balance a budget, would flounder the money on car accessories and other leisure expenses.

Bola’s Ivy League experience was just as foreign to many other student-athletes with whom she served on the SAAC committee. “I had to confront stereotypes of the elite Ivy League, with its students who weren’t down-to-earth or in touch with real problems,” she relates. Quickly, she realized that one of her most important tasks would be to break down those impressions that other students had formed. She knew she was making progress when other SAAC members would comment on her friendliness or sense of humor.

Another good sign that her peers were accepting her as one of their own came when the president and vice-chair of the NCAA SAAC had stepped down. She was voted in as the next vice-chair, and when the new president stepped down a year later, she assumed the post as the Chair of the Division I NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. In her new role, she would be conveying the ideas and opinions of all Division I student-athletes to the Management Council, the group of athletic administrators responsible for much of the decision-making within the NCAA. She would also be the media contact for the national SAAC, serving as the “official voice” for NCAA student-athletes.

Through this time, she continued to also operate as the Ivy League SAAC representative, bringing back to the Ivy League SAAC what was going on at the national level with new legislation, and returning with the Ivy League student vote on issues. While a lot of proposed NCAA legislation doesn’t have a direct impact on Ivy League athletics with its more restrictive policies to ensure that academics remains the core focus, non-conference opponents often might benefit from new changes, perhaps putting the Ivy League at competitive disadvantage. Student-athletes consider these issues at the Ivy League SAAC meetings, having to think not only of competitive issues within the conference, but also trying to consider the welfare of their peers outside the conference.

Even though she graduated from Barnard in the spring of 2001, Bola continues to serve out her term as the NCAA SAAC chair. At the same time, she can now bring another perspective to the table, as an admissions officer for Barnard College. As a high school student looking at colleges, Bola admits that she did not really understand the differences between Barnard and Columbia. She applied to both, and accepted admission at the first school to offer.

With hindsight, Bola feels lucky to have chosen Barnard, as she doesn’t know if she would’ve enjoyed attending Columbia University. One of the main differences between the two (aside from Barnard’s all-female student body) is the core curriculum that students at Columbia must take for graduation. These requirements are much more comprehensive than at Barnard, focusing a lot of theory and philosophy, areas that did not particularly interest Bola. Although there is open cross-registration between Barnard and Columbia, Bola took very few classes that would have qualified for this core curriculum had she been a Columbia student.

There are other differences, though, that Bola, as a student-athlete, remembered wishing might not be so glaring. Now that she is part of Barnard’s administration, she has a voice to call some of these things to attention. For example, she recalls that since Columbia was the base of operations for the athletics program, it was often tough to find a link between Columbia athletics administration and Barnard administration for purposes such as questions with class scheduling. While the Columbia staff would help as much as possible, it was up to a Barnard student to discuss issues with professors personally, rather than having the aid of a Columbia administrator to help resolve conflicts. For many years, Bola mentions, Barnard has been trying to think of ways to bring a more public face to the involvement of its students within the Columbia athletics program. Short of uniforms that literally spell out the arrangement, the thought of which makes Bola laugh and groan, she suggests more of a formal recognition of varsity athletics within Barnard, through posting of athletics honors, such as players of the week, and perhaps the creation of administrative links between the schools for athletics purposes.

The role that Bola has played in college athletics for the past five years, and the fact that she has had many opportunities by attending a school not known to have a strong women’s sports history does not go unnoticed by her. In fact, she highlights the fact that Columbia had young teams, with a short history, as one of her attractions to their athletic program. “Lacrosse and field hockey were brand new sports at Columbia,” Bola explains. “They were on the verge of taking off and being competitive within the Ivy League. I knew this could be my way to forge a path within the Columbia sports world, although I never knew it would take the direction it did.”

Rising to new challenges and possibilities is one of Bola’s strongest attributes, and one that she uses in advising young women as they are choosing colleges or making other important life decisions. “You’ve got to take the challenges as they come, because you never know what the next challenge will lead you to. So much of what I did [in college athletics] was in no way planned, but it all led to some other experience or opportunity.” Bola is hoping that her experiences so far will lead her to a career in athletics, as she looks to pursue a graduate degree in sports management after serving as an admissions officer for a couple of years first. Whether involved in public relations or as an agent to professional athletes, Bola hopes to be in the business of consulting with athletes for many years.

“You have to follow your passion,” she advises younger athletes. “If your passion is to play soccer, field hockey, or lacrosse, go for it.” When pressed for more words of wisdom, Bola continues, “Practice makes perfect. You’ve got to run when you’re hurting, you have to go to practice when you absolutely don’t feel like it. But at the end of the day, you’re going to be happy you’ve spent your time doing it.” Looking back on her four years as an Ivy athlete, having the comparison of all her peers’ experiences at bigger Division I schools, Bola can affirmatively say that she would not do it any differently the second time around. She found the combination of a big city, high caliber academics, and up-and-coming women’s athletics at Columbia and Barnard, a mix she says doesn’t exist at very many schools. Although her attendance at Barnard was a last-minute door that opened, the Ivy League and the NCAA can be happy that they have had the services of Bola Bamiduro for so many years already. The only question remains which opportunity she will take advantage of next.

-- Bevin Hartnett

***Please note, this story was written for a previous Ivy League Black History Month celebration. It is reproduced here for archival purposes and has not been updated.***