USC Director of Athletics Mike Bohn spoke about the power of encouragement Wednesday afternoon at the “What Matters to Me and Why” series hosted by the USC Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.
The event, held at the University Club at King Stoops Hall, was followed by an informal lunch during which students could learn the life stories of faculty and administrators.
Bohn has had a quick and successful rise since he assumed his position in 2019. He was also named the NACDA Athletic Director of the year in 2022, in just three years.
Bohn was introduced by a close friend and colleague, Clarke Stroud, who praised him for his integrity, work ethic, and positive impact on athletes at USC.
“What strikes me about this man is his commitment to students, his commitment to the student athlete experience,” Stroud said. After breaking into song, a shared hobby among himself and Bohn, the talk began.
When posed with the question, “What Matters to Me and Why?”, Bohn spoke about his family and his love for sports that developed at a young age, particularly taking root in his mother who was the “first state female administrator of Little League Baseball west of the Mississippi.”
“As I grew up, the sense of team was everything,” Bohn said. His avid participation in sports fostered a love for people and creating relationships with others. However, the overall theme in Bohn’s life, career and the message he wanted attendees to take away was the importance of fostering and maintaining an encouraging spirit in one’s life.
“Take time and think a little bit about who has encouraged you to be where you are today, who’s inspired you, and you start thinking of all those people in your life,” Bohn added.
For a prolific sports fan, Bohn’s unlikely story about gaining inspiration from a classic Broadway musical, “The Lion King,” became a highlight of the talk. Bohn said he even keeps an ornament of Simba in his office as “a reminder of the people in my life that I owe an obligation to, to be encouraging and to have an awesome attitude and be supportive.”
Reflecting on his career, he said, “I’ve made some fun things that come together. I didn’t do it alone,” crediting the many people who made him the person he has become.
“I feel an incredible responsibility to deliver back to the people I grew up with,” Bohn said.
Music, sports movies, faith and a love for his country were among the other things that Bohn mentioned matters to him.
Marilyn Perez, a sophomore studying global health, resonated with Bohn’s message as a college student.
“I feel like you get a lot of imposter syndrome from everything. Having those people encourage you and lift you up, I think it’s very important,” she said.
The “What Matters to Me and Why” series first began in 2009, hosting several faculty members and administrators within the university, including Pulitzer Prize winner Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen and President Carol Folt. The series aims to encourage “reflection about values, beliefs, and motivation in the lives of those who help shape our university,” according to the USC Office of Religious Life.
“This speaker series represents a creative solution to an important problem in the university setting, and that is the separation of intellectual life from the personal and the spiritual,” said Brake.
The events have featured speakers such as School of Dramatic Arts Dean Emily Roxworthy and USC Staff Assembly President Kristi Culpepper this semester.