About

Jack “Bull” Slavin, from Durham, North Carolina, graduated in May of 2016 with a degree in business administration with a double concentration in marketing and management. He is very proud of the program he developed his freshman year at UNCP called Athletic Connections. Another proud accomplishment of Jack’s is his 1.000 batting average as a member of the baseball team before retiring due to injury. Being an honors college student gave Jack the opportunity to work with the best professors, faculty, and staff, which was very rewarding for him: “Being able to make a lot of connections on the administration level, because of having my title of an honors student, is very rewarding.”

For Jack’s senior project he built on his Athletic Connections program. The program was created to bring local youth onto campus to work with top student athletes as well as honors college students. This is an all-day, high-intensity field day where children are taught how to build stronger leadership, communication, and teamwork skills through the combination of athletics and academics. Jack wants children to use these skills to build a positive, well-balanced life. He loves seeing how Athletic Connections impacts the kids and helps them to better themselves and the surrounding Pembroke Community.

After graduation Jack plans to continue his studies at UNCP to obtain his Master’s in Business Administration. Jack couldn’t give up his love for baseball, so he hopes to one day work as a front-office staff member in minor league baseball. He advises honors students to build positive relationships because there are a lot of people at UNCP who can help to make a college student’s experience more successful. Jack’s greatest memory was when his program, Athletic Connections, won the PBC SunTrust Connection Communities award and was a finalist in the UNC Kenan Flager School of Business Sport Court. Having his first collegiate hit was also “pretty exciting,” and is something Jack will never forget.

Senior Project

Thesis: Athletic Connections: An Athletic Learning Outreach Program

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Hicks