From the lofty perch of Thayer Hall to the majestic red hills of Cedar City, the next athletic director of Southern Utah University is in for quite a change of pace.
On Monday, Aug. 17, Jason Butikofer will take over the position formerly held by Ken Beazer, who resigned as SUU athletic director in May after nearly 10 years at the helm of the school’s Big Sky Conference, Division I athletic department.
SUU spokesperson Ellen Treanor said Butikofer was selected from a pool of candidates after a nationwide recruitment effort.
He comes directly from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he served as associate athletic director, overseeing 11 sports programs, including men’s basketball, track and field, and wrestling.
In his new position as the SUU athletic director, Butikofer will oversee 32 full-time employees and more than 300 student athletes.
Butikofer said he hopes to instill the values he learned from both growing up in rural Iowa as well as working at the military academy in his athletes.
“I learned something every day at West Point. It was a valuable life experience, and I owe a debt of gratitude to the military academy,” he said. “There, I was able to work with generals and colonels who codified my leadership development. They invest in people and because of that, I have had a great chance to impact, grow, and invest in people myself. I hope to bring that same philosophy to SUU.”
SUU President Scott Wyatt echoed those sentiments in a press release.
“We are so pleased that a man of Jason’s caliber has chosen to bring his experience and skill set to our organization, we are confident he will continue to make us a dominant force in the Big Sky,” Wyatt stated.
Butikofer said he would like the principles he learned working at West Point to drive his program at SUU.
“As a leader … my values and experience will guide the athletic program,” he said. “Accountability, selfless service, discipline; these core values will lead our programs.”
While at West Point, Butikofer branched out in his position as associate athletic director, utilizing the academy’s reputation and prestige to expand programs into other areas of influence, thereby increasing the influence of the school. He forged strong relations with the NBA, Nike, and other nontraditional institutions, participating in team-building activities, utilizing the academy’s facilities.
Butikofer said that as he takes the helm as the new SUU athletic director, he will spend his first two months getting the lay of the land and learning his way around the policies and procedures at the institution.
“I will spend two months assessing and identifying the challenges and opportunities and then build the team internally and externally so that we can focus on and organizational and communications structure with a greater focus on outreach,” he said. “Once we have established the direction we want to take, we need to share the message of the direction we want to take to shape the culture and how we operate.”
He also said that his time spent working at West Point would help him determine that direction.
Butikofer grew up in Elgin, Iowa, a rural farming community that is “about a tenth of the size of Cedar City.” He earned his bachelor’s in sport, health leisure and physical studies at the University of Iowa and is finalizing a master’s of sports leadership at Northeastern University.
