CHICAGO—GSV Sports is set to host its inaugural summit, The Future of College & Youth Sports, in Chicago on Wednesday, October 28. DePaul University and DePaul Athletics are sponsoring the event, which will take place at the Obama Presidential Center. Attendees will gather the night before at Wintrust Arena for an official welcome reception.
The summit aims to unite influential leaders in athletics, including university presidents, athletic directors, conference commissioners, and policymakers, among others. Key discussions will focus on solutions for the evolving landscape of college and youth sports, following GSV Sports’ theme of “Rebooting the American Dream through Sport.” The event is invitation-only and aims to foster dialogue on enhancing access and opportunity through sports.
DePaul University will play a significant role, beginning with a welcome reception on Tuesday, October 27, at Wintrust Arena, home to DePaul’s basketball team. DePaul President Robert L. Manuel and Senior Vice President and Director of Athletics DeWayne Peevy are expected to deliver opening remarks.
Peevy emphasized the importance of the summit, stating, “Every athletics department in the country is working through the questions on the table this week, and there is no better place to have that conversation than Chicago. I’m grateful to GSV and the Obama Foundation for bringing it here.” He added that the event offers a platform to discuss the developmental role of sports.
On the summit’s main day, Peevy will participate as a featured panelist in a session titled “Leadership + Human Capital Transformation: Building the Next Generation of Sports Leaders.” This Lunch & Learn Q&A will be moderated by Joe Kennedy from the Obama Foundation and will include insights from Greg Finkelstein of Tyton Partners and Andrea Williams, director of intercollegiate athletics at the University of Illinois Chicago.
The panel is aligned with the Obama Foundation’s vision for Home Court, which emphasizes making sports more accessible and empowering future leaders. The session will explore how sports organizations can navigate transformations driven by new technologies and evolving definitions of success.
ABOUT DEPAUL ATHLETICS
DePaul University’s 15 intercollegiate athletic teams compete in NCAA Division I and the BIG EAST Conference. Established in the early 1900s, the athletics program gained prominence in the 1970s under coach Ray Meyer. With a focus on academic excellence and community engagement, DePaul Athletics aims to become a leading program in the BIG EAST Conference while enhancing the university’s visibility and enrollment through sports. More information can be found at DePaulBlueDemons.com.
ABOUT GSV SPORTS
Co-founded by Michael Cohn, Michael Moe, and Deborah Quazzo, GSV Sports seeks to promote equitable access to the future through sports. It builds on GSV’s partnership with Arizona State University on the ASU+GSV Summit, recognized as the “Davos of Education.” GSV Sports aims to gather leaders across college and youth athletics to address necessary systemic changes. For more details, visit GSVSports.com.
