In early September, St. Olaf student-athletes gathered in the Skoglund Center gymnasium for the 2025-26 athletics kick-off event. There, Athletic Director Kelly Mahlum introduced the term ‘Building Champions on the Hill.’ Building Champions is the banner phrase for St. Olaf Athletics’ new strategic plan, which targets the next four academic years.
Beginning in fall 2024, St. Olaf worked with The PICTOR Group, an intercollegiate consulting firm, to complete a comprehensive review of the athletic department. Members of The PICTOR Group conducted interviews with every head coach and various constituents across campus, in addition to sending out surveys to current student-athletes, current coaching staff, and St. Olaf Athletics alumni. Mahlum was heavily involved in the review, albeit in a precarious position: serving as Interim Athletic Director, she was unsure if she’d be in a future position to implement suggestions from the review.
St. Olaf hired Mahlum as the permanent Athletic Director in May 2025. One of her first actions was meeting with President Susan Rundell Singer to go forward with the strategic plan. Included in the plan was The PICTOR Group, who Mahlum wished to retain following the involvement of in the review process. Another point of emphasis was filling a position to work with the department’s budget and compliance work. In summer 2025, St. Olaf hired Connor Kern as the Associate Athletic Director for Budget and Compliance.
A key focus for implementing the strategic plan was integrating St. Olaf Athletics into the overall campus. This included fostering collaboration among various departments, athletic and non-athletic, which remains an active process.
“A [National Collegiate Athletic Association] Division III campus should be a space where everyone’s collaborating because we’re all here essentially serving the students,” Mahlum said in an interview with The Olaf Messenger. “We serve student athletes a little bit more because we’re in athletics, but we’re all here to do the same thing, and that is to support students.”
Integrating athletics into the campus community is part of the strategic plan’s focus on a holistic student athletic experience. Sports are an important focus of the strategic plan, but “Building Champions” goes beyond athletic competition.
“You want [the student-athlete experience] to be more,” Mahlum said. “I’ve been on a campus that really only focused on the athlete part, and that didn’t sit right with me.”
One of Mahlum’s goals is to create a space where all members of the St. Olaf community are welcome. While promoting initiatives, such as the “Ole Pride Points” program, has had a positive impact, the athletic department is doing more, such as hosting an athletics-sponsored tailgate during Homecoming Weekend.
“If athletics is done right, it creates a community space for everybody,” Mahlum said.
Leadership is another focus for the strategic plan. The athletic department recognizes the importance of leadership in sports, but also understands its application beyond the field of play.
“We want to increase [questions] like: How are you being a leader in your team? How are you being a leader on campus? How are you then going to take those leadership skills, and how is that going to help you when you get into whatever career you’re going into?” Mahlum continued. “All those things kind of stack on top of each other, and it starts with athletics.”
To promote leadership and build the next generation of leaders, athletics is working closely with the Piper Center — St. Olaf’s Career and Vocation Center — to prepare student athletes for life beyond the Hill. Participating in collegiate athletics has translatable benefits to the workplace, which Mahlum hopes the new strategic plan will capitalize on.
“More and more companies are hiring student athletes,” Mahlum said. “I think employers are recognizing that there’s something more there that [student-athletes] experience outside of what they’re learning in the textbook.”
Mahlum has worked closely with Singer throughout the implementation of the strategic plan. With both Mahlum and Singer starting their positions in the past few years, the duo has brought fresh ideas to the table. This has been integral to the strategic plan.
“Whenever there’s a leadership change, people have different thoughts, people have different priorities, people see things differently,” Mahlum continued. “I think President Susan [Rundell Singer] sees all of the areas across campus that are really positive and an asset to the campus, and she saw athletics as being one of those components.”
Looking ahead, Mahlum hopes the strategic plan will continue to instill pride in St. Olaf student-athletes.
“I want [students] to be excited about being an athlete here at St. Olaf… I want us to be proud of it,” Mahlum said.
By taking pride in athletics, Mahlum hopes that student-athletes will have an enriching four years at St. Olaf filled with personal growth and a cherished athletic experience.
“We are going to push to be competitive, but never at the price of people,” Mahlum said. “I want the student athletes to know part of our responsibility is to push them, and part of our responsibility is to help them as people first.”
