PHOENIX — Jamie Boggs grew up in Phoenix as a huge Phoenix Suns fan.
“I thought I wanted to be an NBA player but when I stopped growing at 5’3 in 8th grade that dream died,” Boggs remembered.
She would watch games with her siblings and parents – who moved to Arizona from Thailand in the 1970s.
“They didn’t know anyone. It was a foreign country they only came here with a couple suitcases and a couple hundred dollars in their pocket,” Boggs said. “They were always about relentless work ethic and determination regardless of circumstances.”
Boggs went to law school at the University of Arizona and soon after started working at a sports agency. Quickly she realized her passion was in college athletics and took a job at Duke University in 2003.
As she worked her way up, Boggs says she looked at every step with positivity and gratitude.
“Challenges happen throughout your career but then challenges then become opportunities when you look at it through the right lens,” Boggs said.
Even while working at Duke, GCU would catch her eye on visits home.
“Every time I drove by campus would just get larger and larger,” she remembered.
The school has grown from under 1,000 students in 2009, to 25,000 students on campus this year.
Eventually, Boggs would return in 2015 and earn a promotion to Vice President of Athletics in 2021.
“Just believing in God’s plan and God’s will for me,” Boggs said. “Knowing that my role isn’t necessarily to be an athletic director, it’s to serve him and be his hands and feet and to serve others.”
And the Lopes have found success.
“In just a short period of time we’ve been able to earn 58 championships and when I say we I don’t mean athletics I mean this university,” Boggs said.
According to the NCAA’s demographic database, Boggs is one of just four Asian athletic directors in the NCAA. Only 15% of ADs are women.
“My parents raised me with really high expectations. They never said you have to be the best female or best Asian. They just said you need to work hard and be the best and hustle at whatever you do,” Boggs said. “It was never about my gender or my race. It was never a focus throughout my career.”
But she knows how valuable that representation can be.
“It was when I stepped in this chair I would get emails and calls and notes from people saying, ‘Hey I wanted my granddaughter to see you in this role so she knows she can do it’,” Boggs said.
She says the culture at GCU cultivates success, valuing people over positions.
“Everyone makes mistakes, everyone has something different they bring to the table. No one is perfect but everyone has value,” Boggs said. “If you really focus on what brings value, you can really strengthen your whole department or team overall. “
And with that philosophy, she has big plans for the future of GCU athletics.
“We want to get to a final four. We want to win national championships. We have a lot of support to do that over the next 10 years.”
