Blair Griffith embodies purpose of Kansas Athletics’ work with John McLendon Foundation

LAWRENCE — One could imagine there were any number of emotions coursing through Blair Griffith.

Frustrated? Further motivated?

It could haven been a combination of those and more.

But regardless, while Griffith was a post-graduate intern with the NCAA in 2020, he felt there was something missing.

Griffith, a former college athlete aspiring to find a position on a Power Five campus, thought he had the necessary skillset. But again and again he felt he kept struggling to land roles he sought after, as if there was another step he still needed to take.

Then came a day when Griffith said a former colleague reached out about the John McLendon Foundation, and the work it’s doing to help create access to opportunities within college athletics for minority individuals. He looked into it and got in touch with Adrien Harraway, the foundation’s director and vice president of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Griffith later became the first to join the University of Kansas through the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative in 2021, and worked there for more than a year before that propelled him to a position at the University of Mississippi earlier this year.

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“It kind of came full circle for me,” said Griffith, assistant director of development/major gifts at Ole Miss. “It felt like I wasn’t getting opportunities I felt like I was deserving of, and low and behold here was an opportunity at the University of Kansas — ironically where John McLendon had been a … graduate of. And, really, the rest was history.”

Paul Pierce II, currently Kansas’ associate athletic director for inclusive excellence, said Griffith was given a role in development and fundraising. That allowed Griffith to develop his own network and an idea of what working in this industry looks like, as he spent time around donors and more. Future leaders like Griffith are empowered to have an effect on the institution just like anyone else on staff, so they aren’t just checking a box, which meant his time with the Jayhawks embodied everything about what the purpose of the program is.

During those months, Griffith tried to be as much of a sponge as he could. There was his work with the Williams Education Fund, major gifts, events and more as he further developed his skillset and gained a holistic viewpoint of what development and fundraising looks like at a Power Five institution. Looking back on the experience, he highlighted working with Pierce, athletic director Travis Goff and members of the Williams Education Fund/Athletics Development like Andrea Norris and Ryan White.

Griffith doesn’t think he would be able to have the role at Ole Miss he does, or perform there at a high level, without his time at Kansas. It helped him discover his niche and how to be successful within it. And both Pierce and Harraway are with Griffith in his assessment of the program’s significance.

“From the time that I met him in the spring, in January of ‘21, to the time he departed in February of ’22, four months before the program ended, three institutions were after him in that time,” Pierce said about Griffith. “You can see how this program, by him being a part of it, opened up access to the industry itself.”

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Harraway added: “I don’t know if he would have been at Ole Miss if he didn’t go through our program, to gain that experience.”

Griffith was sad to leave Kansas earlier than scheduled, but he felt so lucky to be able to advance in his career in the way he did. He’s involved in major gift fundraising with a Southeastern Conference institution. It’s not something he would have dreamed about being possible even two years ago.

Pierce and Harraway again pointed to access playing a key role. Neither doubted Griffith’s talent. They knew Griffith would put in the work to accomplish his goals.

Goals that don’t stop with where Griffith is at with Ole Miss. Griffith became involved in the development and fundraising aspect of the industry for a reason. It’s an avenue toward an end goal.

“I realized early on that I want to be an athletics director, and that might be a naïve goal but it’s something that I truly intend to accomplish,” Griffith said. “And I think I have the ability to do so.”

Griffith also intends to be an ambassador for the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative, which started in 2020, during his career. He wants to contribute to the pipeline it’s creating in any way he can. From his perspective, it’s an obligation.

It’s a mindset that follows the enthusiasm Pierce has for the initiative, which Harraway has noticed and believes is in no way about optics. Harraway thinks it’s crazy that there is still a need to act on the need for more diversity in leadership positions in athletics in 2022. The McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative works with schools around the country, and Pierce wants to take advantage of the Big 12 Conference’s footprint to expand access and help change the face of college athletics with increased diversity of ideas and perspectives.

“We’re proving that we can do this thing at a really, really high level, and we’re proving that the McLendon Foundation is so intentional in developing us that it’s truly a source of really high quality professionals,” said Griffith. “… As long as people continue to pour into us and provide us the opportunities that, maybe, weren’t even there for us five, 10 years ago, I don’t see how this thing won’t continue to grow and continue to provide really transformational opportunities for people for years to come, decades to come.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Blair Griffith embodies Kansas’ work with John McLendon Foundation