After a year's worth of assessment and review, a group of Azusa Pacific personnel were commissioned last winter to develop a new mission statement for Cougar athletics. More than 20 years had passed since the first athletic mission statement had been publicly released, and leadership believed it was time to reaffirm and yet refocus the purpose of intercollegiate athletics at the university.
Led by APU professor Dr. Gary Lemaster, who is known for his expertise in organizational management, the committee of head and assistant coaches, support staff, alumni, and student-athletes went to work, using the university's four cornerstones of Christ, community, service, and scholarship as a frame. The mission statement came from the grassroots, from those involved in the day-to-day of Cougar athletics, who understood who the Cougars were, who they are, and who they aspire to be.
After several months of analysis, give and take, question and answer, the committee fashioned the following mission statement and presented it to the entire athletic department this summer. It reads:
We build relationships which inspire transformation of student-athletes through experiencing Christ and cultivating competitive excellence, equipping men and women who are ready to serve and prepared to lead.
"We are created for relationship, first and foremost with God, and then with one another," said Azusa Pacific Director of Athletics Gary Pine, "and it is through these relationships that we glorify God and offer a transformative experience for students. Azusa Pacific has always done relationship well. It was and still is a hallmark of this fine university, and it will continue to be for Cougar athletics moving into the third decade of this millennium."
The statement reflects two of the athletics program's core values regarding competitiveness and maintaining a standard of excellence. It closes with a unique concept of equipping men and women who are ready to serve and prepared to lead, a concept that comes out of the research of Dr. Robert E. Kelley, distinguished professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
"The study of leadership is a cottage industry in our culture," said Pine, "and while we want our alumni to impact their communities, it is important to understand that there is a place and time in this world for followership, for yielding one's will for the sake of a greater good. A Cougar will have leadership skills to be exercised when called upon, but they will have a humility and discernment as well about when to follow, when to support, and how to be a part of a collaborative effort. That's called being a team player."
The new mission statement is currently in effect and will be used to guide a vision statement for the athletic department, which will be fashioned later this year.
