A new women’s leadership group has officially launched on campus with the goal of empowering and inspiring female student-athletes to step into leadership roles both within the university and beyond. The program is led by Tiffany Buckmaster, with support from athletic director Gerald Cadogan. Together, they created the group to highlight selected students from each athletic team Shawnee State has to offer and develop opportunities to improve the campus culture by collaborating as a team. With a focus on improvement, motivation and drive, the group hopes to make a lasting impact on the university as a whole.
The idea for this program didn’t come overnight but was a simple process due to the motivation of both Cadogan and Buckmaster.
“He (Cadogan) wants all our student-athletes to feel they have a voice on campus, and he has established many groups and committees to ensure that,” Buckmaster said. “The idea being everyone has a different perspective on the needs and wants of athletics, and the more we can allow those voices to come forward, the better we can be as a department.”
Currently, Buckmaster holds the important role of athletic compliance and operations manager, where she takes on a variety of responsibilities. These include managing overall budgets, ensuring NAIA eligibility and making sure that both athletes and coaches follow NAIA rules and regulations. Despite the quick transition from her previous role as a softball coach, Buckmaster recognized the significance of this new position and embraced it as an important step in her career.
“I coached softball for 13 years and knew eventually I would want to transition to administration,” she said. “When and how that transition would happen, I didn’t know, but for the most part, I knew I wanted it to be part of my story.”
Coaches were tasked with selecting one or two female student-athletes on their teams who they believed would serve as strong representatives, not only for their sport but also for the college. Buckmaster expressed gratitude for the thoughtful selections and is proud of what the group has already achieved. Reflecting on the first semester, she shared, “We have already accomplished a few things, such as getting game day flags, social media representation and internal outlets for information, as well as decorating rocks for November Kindness Month.”
Looking ahead, Buckmaster highlighted several exciting initiatives for the upcoming months.
“We have a few things coming up next semester as well that we are excited about, with the big one being ‘Walk a Mile in Their Shoes’ in the spring,” she said.
Student-athletes who are in the women’s leadership group are Abigail Bosler, Adrienne Whitley, Alexis Hart, Amber Hall, Annie Coriell, Antonia Ilea, Cianna Gloster, Emma Conley, Genavie Espinoza, Jariah Steele, Juniper Allen, Lucie Ashkettle, Marleigh Albert, Megan Steele, Miranda Johnson and Olivia Cisco.
Because of the efforts of both Buckmaster and Cadogan, as well as the determined women involved, the group has already made significant strides and created opportunities for growth. The creation of this group marks an exciting and impactful stepping stone for both women student-athletes and the university as a whole. As the group continues to plan and evolve, students on campus are sure to recognize and admire the hard work this program signifies.
“Not only have we implemented some physical and visual things,” Buckmaster said, “I’m even more pleased with the young ladies and how they don’t just think of women’s sports, but they truly advocate for Shawnee State athletics as a whole.”
