UC student athlete alum spends career paying it forward

Maggie McKinley-Maric, A&S ’00, was running hurdles for the University of Cincinnati track and field team when life placed different types of hurdles in her path. She was a rising sophomore when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. And she was a gay woman striving to find her way in a pre-enlightened world while sometimes feeling that she and her gay friends were “part of a secret society.”

Those hurdles, however challenging, helped point the way toward a stellar career as an advocate for student-athletes and a policy expert focused on their overall well-being. “I had a passion,” McKinley says. “I wanted to make an impact and help student-athletes after my athletic career was over.”

McKinley, UC’s Deputy Director of Athletics/Senior Woman Administrator, has accomplished that and more. At UC she provides strategic direction on initiatives ranging from policy development to student-athlete welfare to equity and inclusion. On the national stage, she represents the American Athletic Conference on the NCAA’s 40-person Division I Council and chairs the NCAA’s Legislative Committee. Women Leaders in College Sports named her the 2018 Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) Administrator of the Year.

On the NCAA Council, McKinley is primed to complete a five-year term and hopes to see “some history-making legislation” enacted by July 1. That legislation involves “name, image and likeness,” which would remove long-held restrictions and enable student-athletes to profit from the use of their name and image.

“I’ll call it a game-changer for our student-athletes in the landscape of college athletics,” she says. “In five years we’re going to talk about this and say, ‘Can you imagine that we did not let them do this?’ It’s a good change. I’m very supportive of it, and our institution is very supportive of it. It’s a great opportunity for these student-athletes.” 

As a UC student, McKinley majored in psychology and planned to become a sports psychologist. She knew that while UC offered tutoring and medical care to student-athletes, there was a complex world beyond shin splints and split times that also required attention. Following her mother’s diagnosis, she says, her coaches and teammates were supportive. “But there was probably something more that would have really helped me go through those peaks and valleys.”

When McKinley learned that only a small percentage of a psychology practice was likely to involve student-athletes, she re-evaluated her plans. She didn’t think she would be able to make the kind of “big, big impact” that she aspired to as a psychologist. Bob Goin, her former athletic director, offered pivotal guidance. “If you want to have an impact on student-athletes, you should go into administration,” he advised. “You can have a huge impact, and we need more people like you with your passion in this industry.”

Switching gears, McKinley earned a master’s in sports administration from Xavier University. She returned to UC in 2001 for an unpaid internship, landed a paid internship two months later, and has been rising in local and national stature ever since.

Growing up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, McKinley began her athletic life as a gymnast at age 2 and continued until injuries forced her to abandon the sport in high school. She switched to track and field, where her natural flexibility, speed and power made her a star. Bill Schnier, UC’s former track and field coach, recruited her to UC, which was just reinstating its women’s track and field team to comply with Title IX participation guidelines. As part of a foundational 1995-96 recruiting class, McKinley competed in the 400-meter and 100-meter hurdles.

During her undergraduate years, McKinley says, she wasn’t aware that a true LGBTQ community existed. “When I found other student-athletes who were part of that, it was almost like we had this secret society where we would get together and go out to this place or that place,” she recalls.

Once on UC’s athletic staff, McKinley willed herself out of her comfort zone. Adopting a new clarity, she stopped “playing the pronoun game.” Instead of referring to a date as “them,” she referred to her date as “her.”    

“Here are my student-athletes looking at me, and if I’m not living authentically, then I’m conveying the wrong message,” she says. “They might be going through things, struggling with their own identity, and if they see someone in leadership whose actions are suggesting it’s shameful or wrong, they could be adversely impacted. I realized earlier in my career this was important. It’s not about me; I’m here to help the student-athletes. It’s not that I put a big banner on my door, but it’s being my true authentic self in conversations.”