23. Shawn Tucker: One of the youngest NCAA Athletic Directors in the country - a podcast by Bobby Audley

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This week on the podcast Bobby sits down with the Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at New Jersey City University, Shawn Tucker. If you are a regular listener of this show, this name should sound familiar. Bobby chatted with Shawn in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to talk about race in this country. This interview you are about to listen to was one of the first face-to-face interviews Bobby recorded for this podcast back in January before COVID sent the interviews to Zoom.

When hired for his current role at NJCU, Shawn Tucker joined an elite club as one of the youngest athletic directors in NCAA Division III at 33 years old. What's more, Shawn is the first African-American athletic director in NJCU history, the seventh ever in New Jersey Athletic Conference history and the only current minority in the league to hold the position.

Shawn and Bobby met before he got to NJCU, when he was the Associate Athletic Director for Student Athlete Development at Rutgers University. In this role he had lead the Rutgers Leadership Academy, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Rutgers Athletics Internship Program and R Care.

Shawn assisted in launching R Care—which is a program dedicated to providing a comprehensive wrap-around care and communication system in the areas of academic support, sports medicine, sports performance and the RLA.

Outside of work Shawn is the executive director of A.LIFE Ministry—the young adult and college campus ministry at Rutgers University and Abundant Life Family Worship Church in New Brunswick, NJ. With A-Life Shawn manages a leadership team of 30 ministry leaders who conduct weekly bible study sessions, small group discussions, discipleship classes and community group activities. He helped establish the ministry into a 501c3 in 2017.

As a college athlete Shawn Tucker was a four-year standout and three-year starter at wide receiver for Rutgers and was named team captain as a senior in 2006 when he helped lead the Scarlet Knights to its first of four consecutive football bowl championships in 2006. Shawn served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Athletes in Action (AIA) Student Leadership Team.

In this interview we cover all things from Shawn’s professional journey, to how he serves student-athletes to his personal passion of ALIFE Ministry.

Please enjoy listening in to Bobby's cup of coffee with Shawn Tucker.

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