Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes first Black woman named commissioner of Gulf Coast Athletic Conference

The Louisiana Weekly Staff report – Dillard University’s Dr. Kiki Baker Barnes has been named commissioner of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), becoming the first African-American woman to lead that organization.

For the last 16 years, Barnes has led Dillard University’s athletic program – serving as the only female athletic director in Louisiana. She will pivot from her role at Dillard at the end of this academic year to step into the commissioner role full-time bringing with her more than two decades of sports and executive leadership experience.

Barnes, a resident of New Orleans and native of Minden, La., said, “I am looking forward to collaborating with the GCAC Council of Presidents and the conference’s athletic directors to grow the only HBCU conference in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).”

GCAC was established in 1981 and is currently composed of HBCUs from Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. In 2019, the GCAC appointed Barnes to serve as interim commissioner on a part-time basis while she maintained her full-time commitment to Dillard’s athletic program.

During her time in the interim commissioner post, Barnes worked to increase the conference’s membership and oversaw the return of championships in various sports. This year, GCAC plans to expand its membership under Barnes’ leadership with the addition of eight teams, including Oakwood University in Alabama, Wiley College in Texas, and Southern University at New Orleans, which is returning to the conference.

Barnes’ appointment to the GCAC indicates one of several times the sports executive has ascended to new heights for women and African Americans in sports.

Dr. Roderick L. Smothers Sr., chairman of the GCAC and president of Philander Smith University, said Barnes’ appointment was a cause for celebration. “She made history as the first female and Black president of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference and as the first Black woman commissioner in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Now, as she assumes the helm of the GCAC full-time and permanently, I have the utmost faith that, as commissioner, she will impeccably steer the conference to new heights and remain a trailblazer in collegiate sports.”

Dillard University President Dr. Walter Kimbrough said, “Kiki has stepped in time and time again to lead GCAC when asked to. It is only fitting to have her fully take over the conference and build it into a national model for NAIA. We are getting an experienced AD who has national prominence in athletics. She will be able to take lessons learned at Dillard and help many schools build their athletic programs.”

During her time at Dillard, Barnes was a driving force in re-establishing the university’s athletics program following hurricane Katrina and beyond. Amongst her leadership contributions, she said she facilitated the return of the university’s athletic program, transformed the athletic program into a national model of student-athlete success and community service, established new sports teams and oversaw the founding of the university’s first endowed athletic scholarship.

Barnes also mentors and educates the next generation of women in sports through her organization, So You Want a Career in Athletics.™

“I am honored to have earned the trust and confidence of my colleagues for the purpose of leading the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference into the future. My commitment is to bring creative vision, excellence, direction, and strong partnerships that will advance the conference and the competitive landscape for our student-athletes,” said Barnes. “As I embrace this new opportunity, I am especially grateful to my colleagues, staff, and student-athletes at Dillard University for our collective work in rising from adversity to winning championships and becoming a national model of student-athlete success.”

This article originally published in the April 4, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.