Florida A&M's Lee Hall Auditorium was filled with Rattler athletes, alumni, and supporters to welcome the newly-hired vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics, Tiffani-Dawn Sykes.

Sykes, 42, joined the meeting via Zoom from Hanover, New Hampshire — home of her previous job as Dartmouth's College's executive senior associate athletics director for varsity sports and senior woman administrator.

She was hired on Oct. 11 for what she calls described as her dream job.

"I never wanted to be just any AD. I always wanted to be the Athletic Director at FAMU," Sykes said in her opening statement. "I've manifested this exact moment for over a decade, and it is incredible to see this dream realized during the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity to lead this department and I will never take it for granted."

Sykes' scheduled start date is Jan. 4, 2023, but the new hire said that she will make herself available as needed before officially starting the job. She also plans to attend FAMU's homecoming football game on Oct. 29 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Sykes is the second woman to hold FAMU's director of athletics position (first of overall athletics) behind Sarah Hill-Yates, who worked as the women's director of athletics during her time with the program from 1977 to 1988.

Sykes is one of only two women who run SWAC athletics departments.

"I was surrounded by very strong women in college athletics so I expressed my desire to pursue a career in college athletics early on," Sykes said. "The representation of being able to see them navigating those spaces successfully made me recognize that this was actually an attainable dream.

"I hope to be representative for others to chase theirs."

Her hire came with the help of DHR Global, who sifted through applications and recruited candidates.

Contract details have not been released.

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Maintaining Compliance

Sykes has an extensive history of NCAA compliance experience.

At Dartmouth, she oversaw everything involving eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as the ski team's supervisor. Sykes was the director of compliance for Grambling State and Chowan University.

She also holds a membership to the National Association for Athletics Compliance.

FAMU recently had compliance issues when 26 of its football players were NCAA uncertified ahead of the Week 0 game at North Carolina. Players pointed out in a five-page public letter to FAMU President Dr. Larry Robinson that they felt misadvised, underrepresented, and underappreciated due to there being one athletic compliance officer on staff across 14 of the school's sports.

"I've been able to cultivate many strong relationships with people of the NCAA office — particularly in the eligibility center and within academic and membership affairs," Sykes said. "I plan on capitalizing on those relationships and bringing education to the constituents and our student-athletes to protect us from further challenges.

"I know that we can all acknowledge that there was some challenges that made national news, but I don't want to speculate on the challenges of FAMU until I'm there. So, it's going to be very important that everyone I have the opportunity to meet with be as transparent as possible. Because unless I have the information, I can't address those concerns."

Sykes said that she reviewed an athletic action plan with Robinson that will be implemented upon her arrival.

In August, Robinson, committed to hiring five or more compliance employees and two academic advisors to assist the student-athletes.

"I plan to schedule meetings with academics and compliance and I want to make sure they have standing meetings with each other because it's important that they're on the same page with the same information to properly advise a student-athlete," Sykes said.

"I think it's very necessary to review the current practices and teach what the best practices are."

Sykes' compliance experience was a big deciding factor in her hire.

"The past few months attested why it's important to establish a culture in compliance," Robinson said. "She's been in this environment and understands the special need for this institution and students.

"It went a long way in helping me make my decision to ask her to serve in this role.“

Meeting the student-athletes 'where they are'

Sykes is a former collegiate student-athlete herself.

As an undergraduate student, she played volleyball and was a track and field athlete, lettering in both sports.

Her parents were student-athletes at Norfolk State, with her father playing basketball and her mother being a dancer. Her stepfather also ran track for Purdue University.

Sykes' experience allows her to relate to Rattler student-athletes.

"One thing that I've learned that really improves the morale is simply being visible and accessible to take the opportunity of listening to the concerns and successes of student-athletes, coaches, and the athletic support staff," Sykes said.

"I'm not afraid to meet student-athletes or coaches where they are to have those conversations. I have no problem doing 30 minutes to an hour of my office hours from the dugout to be present as possible.

"When I thought about what my role would be here, it would represent student-athletes and give them a voice. I'm hoping to remove any obstacles to ensure that path to success because of those engagements and working with stakeholders on and off campus."

Sykes realized the presence of FAMU softball during her interview process. She committed to meeting with the team first once she arrives in Tallahassee.

"There were a number of student-athletes who made themselves available during my interview, and I heard them loud and clear," she said. "I appreciate them making the sacrifice and prioritizing meeting with me because I know student-athletes don't have a lot of time."

Putting her money where her mouth is

Sykes has not wasted any time in investing in her new job.

After accepting the position, she paid dues to become a lifetime associate member of FAMU National Alumni Association, submitted fees to become a lifetime member Rattler Boosters, and donated to University Advancement.

Sykes' monetary contributions are one of the things that she's passionate about.

At Dartmouth, she set records for in fundraising for sports she supervised.

"Every one of the sports that I oversaw at Dartmouth broke a program record in fundraising," she said. "I started a varsity club at my alma mater for the athletics department which is a chapter of the alumni association opened exclusively to former student-athletes.

"We used that as a fundraising arm to the athletics department. I was able to gain experience just to support two areas that I'm really passionate about."

Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tiffani-Dawn Sykes brings compliance experience to 'dream' job at FAMU