An interview with Conference Commissioner Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes
Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes is the winner of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Rise Leader of the Year award. She is the NAIA’s only all-Black conference commissioner, the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Athletic Conference (HBCUAC).
Formerly the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference, Barnes became the league’s full-time leader in 2022 following three years as interim commissioner. After a 16-year stint as athletic director at Dillard University in New Orleans, she became the conference’s first Black female commissioner in conference history and the NAIA’s history. The association was founded in 1937 and comprises over 250 member institutions.
Barnes also is a member of a very elite group of Black female collegiate commissioners, all leading HBCU conferences and all firsts in their roles. Jacqueline McWilliams Parker (CIAA) is the first Black woman to serve as commissioner for NCAA Divisions I, II, and III; Sonya Stills (MEAC) and Big South Commissioner Sherika A. Montgomery are the others.
A former Division I athlete at the University of New Orleans, Barnes later became a basketball coach and then athletic director. She returned to school and earned her doctorate in higher education administration. Her two previous degrees were in mass communication and media studies.
“I am deeply grateful for Jacque,” Barnes said in a recent Q&A interview. “We all stay connected to one another, and Parker is the one that spearheaded putting us all together. So, I will say that having her step into that role as a mentor, advisor, confidant, supporter, sister, friend—that has, I think, made this journey a lot easier.”
MSR: How is the current college sports landscape at the NAIA level?
KB: We’re all still trying to figure out how to navigate this space, and how do we continue to keep the student athletes at the forefront of the conversation? How do we create quality experiences for them?
How are we working with our institutions, collectively, to move the needle? It doesn’t matter what level you’re at. Those are core issues that we’re all working to address at our level.
MSR: The HBCUAC conference was rebranded in July.
KB: I would say that we’re also an HBCU conference. And so, we said, we’ve got to figure out how we address that from a marketing standpoint. We enlisted a [Black-owned] company to work with us … a two-year process of focus groups with our presidents, with our athletic directors, with our coaches and a select group of student athletes.
MSR: The Gulf Coast Conference was founded in 1981 with seven colleges.
KB: We finally landed an HBCU Athletic Conference. We’re excited about it. The rebrand has probably been one of the most fun things I’ve had the opportunity to be part of. It has been received extremely well in the market.
We are the conference “Where Winners Thrive.” That is our tagline.
MSR: The new branding is one of several new initiatives.
KB: I would say we’re in this brand-building stage. We are positioning ourselves and building the platform in a way where we can tell the unique stories of our institutions, and how we continue to win, not just on the court; not just on the field, but in the classroom, in the community, in life in general.
The second part of that conversation was about the media rights deal. [Barnes signed the NAIA’s largest media rights deal in 2022 with Urban Edge Network, which gives each member school in the conference a platform to exclusively host their content.]
Because they are a network, they have opportunities to sell to advertisers and can share revenue [with the conference]. All of the larger schools are doing it. We have an exposure opportunity and a chance to get into the money game.
MSR: What are some of the advantages of a student-athlete attending a HBCUAC school?
KB: We sell an opportunity to play and an opportunity to get a great education. You get to have a quality athletic experience as well as a quality student experience. Athletics isn’t so overwhelming to the point where you don’t get to experience anything else that’s happening on campus.
I played Division I basketball. It was very hard playing all the time. I was able to pledge a sorority, but it was a very hard thing to do at the Division I level based on my schedule. The NAIA is a great place to consider furthering your college playing career as well as your academic career.
MSR: In recent years, conference expansion and realignment have been happening to longtime athletic conferences. The former Gulf Coast Conference has seen its share of schools come and go—six schools left in 2010, three more left in 2014, 2015 and 2019, and three more in 2021.
KB: Most of our schools were considering a move to DII because they wanted to be associated with an HBCU conference. Over the past two years, our growth has been exponential. We were at five schools and now we’re at 13. Getting to 13 teams was crucial.
We’re now in eight states and one U.S. territory. We’re not a conference that [all] the schools are from the Gulf Coast because now we’re across the deep South.
MSR: How is NIL?
KB: The NAIA was the first athletic conference to pass NIL legislation allowing student athletes to make money off their name, image, and likeness.
Four major Division I HBCU conferences—CIAA, MEAC, SWAC and the SIAC—along with the HBCUAC last year together agreed to partner with professional sports leagues such as the NBA and NFL to increase the value of Black colleges and universities as well as increasing NIL opportunities.
I want to create an Athletic Academy. [Barnes owns her own consulting company and developed the “So You Want A Career in Athletics” professional leadership program for young Black girls and women.]
My conversation now with young women is about making sense of the experiences that they have and learning and being as skilled as possible. That’s what I’m writing in my book. I’m almost done, so I hope to get on the speaker circuit next year once I launch my book and talk about leadership.
MSR: What about your life/work balance?
KB: I am traveling almost every week for either a meeting or a championship or a conference. There is a work-life balance. You have to be grateful for the good and the challenges that come with [her job].
I’m grateful to have the opportunity, grateful to work with great people. I got a great team of people I’m working with. I’m serving a great organization, a great number of institutions, and it just really feels good.
This interview was edited for clarity. Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.