Benedictine College's Annie Hart named vice president-elect of NAIA leadership group

Benedictine College’s Annie Hart has landed a vice president-elect role with the NAIA Senior Woman Leader Association, putting an Atchison athletics administrator on a national board that helps shape women’s leadership in small-college sports.

The appointment gives Benedictine greater visibility across the NAIA, where the Senior Woman Leader role is tied to Title IX and gender equity planning, strategic planning, budget development, student-athlete well-being and the hiring and evaluation of coaches. The association was created to promote meaningful representation of women in the leadership and management of NAIA sports, and Hart is listed on its leadership board as the Heart of America Conference representative.

Hart’s rise reflects work she has already been doing on campus. She joined Benedictine’s Raven Athletic Department in July 2022 as the college’s first Senior Woman Administrator for athletics, after completing her Ed.D. at Rockhurst University in May 2022. Her day-to-day responsibilities include academic support, game management, advising Chi Alpha Sigma and co-advising the Student Athlete Leadership Team, which puts her in contact with student-athletes well beyond game day.

That combination of administration and student support is part of what made the selection resonate in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. Madison Lantz-Farris, the conference’s assistant commissioner and senior woman leader, called Hart “an outstanding advocate for Senior Woman Leaders and someone who truly understands the impact of this role.”

For Benedictine, the practical payoff could be felt in Atchison. A national appointment like this can help the college stand out when families compare programs for women athletes, especially at a small school where leadership matters as much as facilities. Hart’s new role also gives Benedictine a stronger connection to conference and NAIA conversations that influence the student experience, from leadership programming through SALT to the support systems that help athletes balance classes, practices and competition.

The NAIA said member institutions were required to fully integrate the senior woman leader role into their athletics structure by August 1, 2023, and more than 250 new women leaders were highlighted in its Women’s History Month materials tied to the designation. Hart’s selection places Benedictine inside that broader network and gives Atchison another administrator whose influence now reaches well beyond Kansas.