Former UC San Diego Director of Athletics, Earl Edwards, has always maintained that sports is about much more than what you see on the field.
For him, every collegiate athlete is also a scholar, a developing young person and a future member of society. As such, in addition to the physical and competitive aspect, he also sees athletics as a vehicle for lifelong learning, leadership, growth and community building.
"My philosophy is that athletics is more than competition. It's a laboratory for personal development," said Edwards.
During his 25-year tenure as the UC San Diego Athletics Director, Edwards oversaw the university's transformation from a regional Division III program into a nationally recognized Division I department, known for both competitive success and academic excellence. His stewardship of the program ultimately led to his induction into the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame.
The guiding philosophy he brought to that growth now serves as the foundation for the newly launched UC San Diego Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society, a public dialogue initiative that brings together influential voices from athletics, education, business and public life.
"The Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society reflects the university's commitment to exploring the powerful role athletics plays in shaping leadership, education and community," said Edward Abeyta, Ph.D., associate dean at UC San Diego's Division of Extended Studies. "By bringing together athletes, scholars, alumni and community leaders, the forum fosters meaningful conversations that extend beyond competition."
The inaugural event of the lectureship, titled Rising Beyond Circumstance: Faith, Resilience, and the Power of Community, is taking place on Monday, July 13, 2026, with author, pastor and inspirational speaker Jolinda Wade, mother of NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.
She will share how, before becoming an advocate for personal transformation, she spent years battling addiction, homelessness, incarceration and profound self-doubt. The transformation she experienced reflects many of the themes at the heart of the new lectureship
The scholar-athlete ideal
While Wade's life journey unfolded far from a basketball court, many of the lessons embedded in her story mirror the values that the lectureship's namesake, Earl Edwards, spent decades championing through collegiate athletics.
In Edwards' view, athletics pushes students to learn valuable lessons in resilience, time management, teamwork, commitment, goal setting and navigating both success and failure. Those experiences, Edwards believes, help transform young people into well-rounded adults capable of making meaningful contributions to society.
It is for that reason that, rather than embracing the traditional label of "student-athlete," Edwards intentionally promoted the concept of the "scholar-athlete," emphasizing that academic excellence and athletic achievement should reinforce one another rather than compete.
"We chose intentionally to go with scholar-athlete," Edwards said, "to emphasize the focus on academics as well as athletics."
The results have been notable. UC San Diego scholar-athletes have consistently achieved graduation rates and academic performance that rival or exceed those of the broader student population. For Edwards, that success reflects a larger belief: excellence in one area of life carries over into others.
Building character and community
The values Edwards emphasized throughout his career extended beyond athletics. When asked about the lessons he most often shared with athletes and staff, one answer came immediately: "The status quo is not acceptable."
From Edwards' point of view, there is always room for growth and advancement. More can always be achieved.
That mindset helped guide UC San Diego Athletics through a period of remarkable growth, including its transition to NCAA Division I competition and its upcoming move to the West Coast Conference.
Yet alongside ambition and achievement, Edwards has consistently stressed another set of values: creating belonging, practicing kindness and leading with positivity.
"Negativity is like a cancer," Edwards said. "Even when there were challenges, you learn from those and focus on holding a positive mindset."
He has also emphasized the value of treating others well and not making assumptions about who they are.
"Treating individuals with respect and kindness is more important than ever," he said. "How we treat others is a reflection of who we are as individuals and community members, too."
It is this philosophy that makes Jolinda Wade such a fitting speaker for the inaugural event.
Rising beyond circumstance
Many people know Wade through her son, NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade. Yet the story she brings to UC San Diego is less about basketball and more about transformation.
Before becoming an author, pastor and nationally sought-after speaker, Wade spent years battling addiction, homelessness and incarceration.
"I was a wreck," she said candidly when reflecting on her early adulthood. "I did most of my adult life living through abuse, drugs, alcohol addiction and in and out of jail and prison."
Having experienced firsthand what it feels like to be judged, dismissed or written off, she now encourages audiences to look beyond labels and assumptions, and see people as more than their lowest moments.
"I don't judge people," she said. "We never know who that person is. I'm going to give you a hand to lift you up, and I'm not going to judge you."
Wade can point to the exact day her life began to change.
On Oct. 14, 2001, she was on her way to buy heroin before attending church. But rather than getting the drugs she expected, she was ripped off. Frustrated and angry, she returned home, only to feel compelled by what she describes as a persistent inner voice urging her to get dressed and go to church anyway.
There, during a small service, she encountered a scripture that would alter the course of her life.
"I heard that same voice that told me to go to church say, 'You're going to stop denying my spirit the power to change.'"
The moment became the catalyst for a transformation. After the service, she called a friend and asked for help.
"I said, 'I got to die so Jesus Christ can live,'" Wade recalled. "That was the beginning of my transformational journey of conquering me."
That phrase — conquering me — would eventually become the title of her memoir, "Conquering Me: A Memoir of Courage, Faith, and Transformation." It also captures one of the central themes she hopes audiences take away from her work.
"The leadership message I share is that people do not have to give up on themselves," she said.
For Wade, the greatest obstacles were not external circumstances alone, but the shame, fear and self-defeating narratives she carried with her through the dark times of her life.
"In order to change, you have to change the direction that you're going in. I know it's not easy. It wasn't easy for me. But it's doable," she said.
Looking back on her own journey, Wade frequently returns to these simple convictions:
People can change. People can grow. People can rise beyond circumstance.
Extending the conversation
While a story of addiction recovery and personal transformation might not seem directly connected to athletics, UC San Diego's leaders believe those larger conversations are precisely what make the lectureship meaningful.
Rather than focusing solely on sports, the lectureship examines athletics as a lens through which broader questions can be explored. In many respects, the lectureship mirrors the philosophy Edwards spent decades advancing through athletics.
Just as he viewed sports as a vehicle for developing people rather than simply producing wins, the new series brings together multiple parts of the university to create conversations centered on leadership, resilience, community and human potential.
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Alumni Relations Shara Freeman Hoefel highlights how the lectureship is also a university partnership among Athletics, Alumni Relations and the Division of Extended Studies. This cross-campus investment, which includes grant monies dedicated by the Alumni Board of Directors, reflects a shared belief in lifelong learning.
"Learning and engagement with the university doesn't end at graduation," Hoefel said. "Our alumni need on-ramps to come back and this is another opportunity for our community to participate in what the university has to offer."
Athletics, she argues, serves as more than entertainment. It creates connection. It builds pride. It offers a shared experience capable of bringing together students, alumni and the broader community for meaningful lessons and experiences.
As UC San Diego launches the Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society, organizers aim to create a space where those larger conversations can continue, both on campus and throughout the broader community.
Attending the inaugural lectureship
The inaugural event of the Earl W. Edwards Lectureship on Athletics and Society with speaker Jolinda Wade takes place on Mon., July 13, 2026 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at 8980 Villa La Jolla Drive.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
