The Total Person Program – Preparing Student-Athletes to be Champions in Life

Abstract

As Georgia Tech’s director of athletics, Dr. Homer Rice implemented the Total Person Program in 1981. Dr. Rice’s concept was based on his belief that excellence is a result of a balanced life that encompasses academic excellence, athletic achievement and personal well-being. Over the past 35 years, the Total Person Program has been imitated and implemented by institutions across the country and was the inspiration for the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program. One of the first student-athletes to benefit from the Total Person Program at Georgia Tech was a football player named Todd Stansbury, who returned to Tech as director of athletics in September. Before his return to The Flats, Stansbury implemented principles of the Total Person Program as director of athletics at East Tennessee State, Central Florida and Oregon State. Now back “home,” one of his primary goals for Georgia Tech athletics is to continue to build on the unique tradition of the Total Person Program and continue to expand it with the needs of modern student-athletes in mind.