This story originally appeared in the Spring 2020 issue of EKU Magazine.

RICHMOND, Ky. – Gail Dent was a newly-minted Eastern Kentucky University graduate when she settled on her couch to watch Jeopardy! one summer night in 1988.
 
The ringing of her phone interrupted Alex Trebek. On the other line was a man named David Cornwell. He was an attorney and staff member for the National Football League.
 
Hired by then-commissioner Pete Rozelle, Cornwell was tasked with reviewing minority hiring policies and procedures in the League.
 
Dent's conversation with Cornwell that night launched a decades-spanning, pioneering career in the sports industry.
 
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Dent didn't play sports. She never coached sports. But she absolutely loved sports.
 
It was in her genes. Both of Dent's parents were big sports fans. Every Sunday at her childhood home in Louisville, Dent and her father watched NFL games together. It was cherished "Daddy-Daughter Time" for the only-child.
 
After graduating from Fern Creek High School, Dent arrived at EKU in the fall of 1984 and immediately began laying the groundwork for a career in sports.
 
She volunteered for long-time EKU Sports Information Director Karl Park and wrote press releases about the track and field teams of an up-and-coming coach named Rick Erdmann.
 
She began pursuing a degree in public relations/mass communications, with an emphasis in sports.
 
"The Mass Comm department at EKU was fabulous," Dent said. "The professors really took an interest in us as students. They would stay after class and answer questions for as long as needed."
 
Dent specifically cites former faculty Dr. Dean Cannon and Dr. Ron Wolfe as key characters in her Eastern experience.
 
"The learning environment at EKU was phenomenal," Dent added. "I made long-lasting friendships, was a part of school activities like the EKU Dance Team, and developed great relationships with my professors. It was really a wonderful experience I had in Richmond."
 
After four years overlooking the Ravine in the same room at Burnham Hall, Dent graduated from Eastern Kentucky in the spring of 1988.
 
It was finally time to pursue her dream career in the wide world of sports.
 
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The wide world of sports is actually an exclusive world. It's notoriously hard to break into.
 
Dent discovered this in the months after graduation.
 
She aggressively applied for P.R. jobs with (warm-weather only) NFL teams – the Dolphins, Cowboys, Oilers and Buccaneers. She received rejection letters from all of them.
 
Frustrated – but undaunted – Dent took a job in customer relations with Humana in her hometown of Louisville.
 
One night, however, she happened upon an article about Cornwell and his study of minority hiring patterns in the NFL.
 
As an African-American woman struggling to be hired by that very organization, Dent was intrigued. She immediately wrote Cornwell a letter, asking for advice.
 
A month later, Cornwell interrupted Jeopardy! with a phone call. He could not guarantee Dent a job in the NFL, but he pointed her in the direction of a sports information job at the University of Kentucky. He even offered to write a letter on her behalf to the Kentucky athletics director, Cliff Hagan.
 
Dent interviewed and got the job.
 
Her persistence had paid off.
 
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Dent was an integral member of the Kentucky athletics department for nearly a decade, most of which she spent working under visionary administrator C.M. Newton. While at Kentucky, she earned her master's degree, which greatly helped her career.
 
In 1997, Dent moved to Colorado Springs to work in the public relations office for the U.S. Olympic Committee. She did White House visits with various U.S. Olympic teams, and she traveled with the teams to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
 
It was in Sydney that Dent met Bill Hancock. At the time, Hancock was one of the directors of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. He is currently the executive director of the College Football Playoff.
 
Hancock convinced Dent to apply for a job at the NCAA offices in Indianapolis. She has worked for the NCAA ever since, most recently as the associate director of communications.
 
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Dent earned the career she always wanted, and it's a career most sports fans can only dream about – working SEC events while at UK, the Olympics, the NCAA. She has witnessed – up close – some great sports moments. Memories to last a lifetime.
 
But it didn't come easy.
 
Dent credits the power of persistence for her rise. After all of those early rejection letters, "I could have just given up," she said. "But I didn't."
 
She advocated for herself. She made connections. And she refused to quit.
 
Even after breaking into the industry, challenges remained.
 
"There weren't many woman – especially women of color – coming through the industry that I saw as role models," Dent said.
 
Now Dent cherishes the opportunity to be one of those role models. One of the most rewarding parts about her current position is being able to impact change in the areas of diversity and inclusion. She also works closely with stakeholders, as well as local and national media, through engagement opportunities.
 
When mentoring young people now, Dent preaches two tenets that served her well:
 
"Be Visible and Be Vocal."