Bio

SHAWN HARRIS, Dean of Athletics

EDUCATION:

Ph.D candidate, Leadership: Sports Management and Administration, Concordia University, Chicago, expected Fall, 2025

MCAA: Coaching and Athletic Administration, Concordia University, Irvine, 2017.

B.S: Management, University of Phoenix, Phoenix, 2016.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Dean of Athletics Shawn Harris oversees every facet of athletics operations at Westcliff University, an NAIA institution which plays in the California Pacific Conference, and has won 33 combined conference and national championships over the past four years of athletic competition. Harris also serves on Westcliff's Faculty Senate, and is the Chairman of the curriculum committee. 

A decorated military veteran who served eight years in the United States Marine Corps, Harris is a developer of disciplined leadership who is passionate about giving voice to the voiceless through serving and spotlighting deserving, undervalued talent. His team of coaches and administrators at Westcliff exemplify this vision and have delivered on their promise by skipping the “growing pains” portion of its journey and immediately landing Westcliff among the most successful programs in the NAIA. In just its second year of competition, Westcliff sent every single team in every single season to conference postseason play.

With a naturally entrepreneurial mindset and a strong business acumen backed by over two decades of leadership experience with Fortune 500 companies in Southern California, Harris not only leads Westcliff, but also Driven Over Given / Firm Grip Consulting Group, a leadership academy missioned to stimulate education, leadership and social growth through sports development, Intrusive Sports Agency, wherein he serves as a certified agent for the WNBA, and Between the Lines Entertainment, a production company focused on sports related content creation in the podcasting and streaming video realms. 

Harris is currently both teacher and student, as he is simultaneously in pursuit of his doctorate in Leadership: Sports Management and Administration at Concordia University, Chicago, and serves as a teaching professor at Westcliff, and Assistant Principal of Westcliff Preparatory Academy. A Prince Hall Freemasonry and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity member, Harris has always been academically focused, and made the classroom his priority when he took over at Westcliff. In the five years since, Westcliff’s cumulative athletic department GPA has risen from 0.98 to 3.05, and the Warriors have produced over 70 combined NAIA and conference All Academic performers.