How It All Started
It all started with an email…
FairWays to Leadership began in response to everything happening in the world in 2020, and how it would subsequently impact his students in the DeVos program at the University of Central Florida and beyond.
Dr. Eric Boyd felt the need to do something, but wondered what could be done for students in the program that would keep them moving forward in their business education. At about the same time, Dr. Boyd was doing research on the impact of golf on business opportunities.
What struck him was how golf contributed to discrimination in business for those who didn’t play or know the sport. This discrimination isn’t as explicit as someone outright saying that you can’t participate because you’re a woman or because of the color of your skin. It was more implicit in that those same people were being kept from opportunities either because they did not play golf or they weren’t exposed to the game early in their life.
That realization led him to start FairWays to Leadership with an email to the students in the DeVos Sport Business Management Program.
“In the spirit of using sport for social change, I am offering free golf lessons this Saturday to anyone who has never played or only has limited experience playing the sport but would like to learn the basics. I am not a credentialed golf professional, but I did play golf at the collegiate level and taught both of my daughters to play, one of whom played competitively as an amateur.”
- Email sent to DeVos Sport Business Management students by Dr. Eric Boyd on June 8, 2020