SLIAC Intern, Xela Davis spent last week at the 2025 NCAA Convention as part of the organization's Immersion Program. The goal of the Immersion Program is to build a pipeline of talented ethnic minority candidates, with an interest in Division III coaching and/or administration, in an effort to ultimately diversify the division. Below, in her words, is a recap of her experience at the convention.



First Day Recap: 
My first session started off hot with the topic of networking and the importance of connecting with people. My peers and mentors always say “it’s not what you know but who you know”. Meanwhile I believe that it’s a mixture of both. In this session we ultimately gained tips and tricks on what networking looks like. Later in my day I went to the convention welcome and awards presentation where Holly Rowe was the host. The highlight of my day was getting to introduce myself to Holly and snapping a picture with her.

Second Day Recap:
I think Day 2 will be my most memorable day of this trip. We had great speakers such as Will, Lamarr, and Dr.Niya just to name a few. We went over our DISC assessments with Lamarr that gave a in depth description of who we are. There was some much needed knowledge dropped on us by Will Baggett and he left us with this quote; “belief will find a way forward, doubt will do a way out”. This conversation was followed up with Dr.Niya making sure we have an identity and know who we believe to be. This talk was something I needed to really have, and my peers could say the same. 

Third Day Recap: 
Thursday was very informative kicking it off with the Division 3 Issues Forum. I didn’t realize how little I knew about what was going on in Division 3. This Issue Forum talk was also a safe space for us to share what we’ve experienced in D3 and where we’d like to see change. Later in the day I was able to sit in on my conference meeting which was surprisingly the highlight of my day. To see all those leaders come together for a common goal of change was awesome. 

Davis, a student at Greenville University, is in her second semester of an internship with the conference office. For more information about possible internships with the SLIAC contact sid@sliac.org.