Dr. Lesaine named NCAA Champion of Diversity and Inclusion

NEWBERRY – The NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee has named three individuals as 2024 Champions of Diversity and Inclusion for the summer season. The three are recognized for their campus and community work in supporting ethnic minorities and other underrepresented populations in intercollegiate athletics.

Dr. John Lesaine, Newberry College associate dean/associate athletics director for student-athlete success, has been named one of three individuals recognized nationally by the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee as a 2024 Champions of Diversity and Inclusion for the summer season.

Lesaine, along with Dr. Ty-Ron Douglas of the University of California Berkley and Sara Lee of Denison, are recognized for their campus and community work in supporting ethnic minorities and other underrepresented populations in intercollegiate athletics.

The recognition was created in 2015 by the MOIC, the NCAA’s Association-wide committee that champions causes and topics that involve diversity and inclusion in the membership. The honor is given twice a year to individuals at NCAA colleges, universities and athletics conferences who have shown a commitment to influencing and promoting diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging; advocating for and supporting underrepresented populations; and diversifying pipeline opportunities within college athletics. Individuals are nominated for the honor, with the MOIC reviewing and selecting the final three recipients.

“Congratulations to Dr. Ty-Ron Douglas, Sara Lee and Dr. John Lesaine for this well-earned recognition of their contribution to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in college athletics,” said Adam Hutchinson, chair of the NCAA MOIC and director of athletics at Earlham. “Their impact on sport and the student-athlete experience extends beyond the borders of their campuses and is felt across all levels of the NCAA.”

“Few people on our campus make such a positive, transformational impact on our student-athletes and our entire student community as Dr. Lesaine,” said Newberry College Athletics Director Sean Johnson. “We are lucky to have Dr. Lesaine as part of our department leadership team.”

Lesaine provides vision and direction for many of Newberry’s diverse and inclusive initiatives. He created the Newberry College Black Male Success initiative, which provides individualized support and encouragement for African American males on the Newberry campus to aid in the success and retention of promising African American male scholars. Additional diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives include serving on the Newberry president’s first Diversity Task Force, the DEIB Advisory Committee and the Newberry College Dufford Diversity and Inclusion Week Committee.

Lesaine is also the college’s first athletics diversity and inclusion designee, a full-time faculty member, an advisor in the university’s Center for Student Success, and a qualified administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory.

Lesaine has also been the main site coordinator for eight years for the program Call Me MISTER, which stands for Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models. The objective of the initiative is to increase the pool of available teachers from broader, more diverse backgrounds, particularly among the lowest performing elementary schools in South Carolina. Other accolades include being recognized as a Professor of the Year at Newberry on four occasions; earning the Boyd Professorship for Excellence in Teaching; and earning an Excellence in Teaching Award from South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities.

A native of Manning, South Carolina, and a Newberry College alumnus, Dr. Lesaine has taught in the Department of Sport Professions since August 2012. Before entering the classroom, he coached women’s basketball on the college level for eight years, including two stints at Newberry as a student assistant (2004-2007) and as a full-time assistant (2009-2012). As a college coach, he has been part of two South Atlantic Conference tournament championship teams (2006 and 2007) and coached in six consecutive NCAA Division II national tournaments.

Dr. Lesaine has received several campus awards during his tenure as a professor. He has been selected four times as the Student Government Association Professor of the Year (2015, 2016, 2021, 2023). He has also received the Dr. and Mrs. William S. Boyd Professorship for Excellence in Teaching (2016), the L. Grady Cooper Award for loyalty and dedication to Newberry College (2016), an Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Society for Leadership and Success (2016), and Campus Pastor’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service (2014).

In his spare time, Dr. Lesaine serves as a public address announcer for Newberry College athletics. He also officiates basketball on the high school, college, and semiprofessional levels.

Dr. Lesaine received his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management from Newberry College in 2007, his M.Ed. from Valdosta State in 2009, his M.S. in Sport Psychology from Capella University in 2017 and his Ed.D. in Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy in 2015.