NASHVILLE – Candice Storey Lee won’t talk about how long she might be in charge of Vanderbilt’s athletic department, having already made history as the first black woman to hold that job in the Southeastern Conference.
However long this role lasts, Lee is very aware of how much it means.
“It’s not lost on me the responsibility that I have that people who, both those who look like me and those who don’t, know that they can have opportunities to excel really in any space that they want,” Lee said Wednesday night before Vanderbilt hosted No. 18 LSU in men’s basketball, with the Commodores upsetting the Tigers 99-90 to end a string of 28 straight SEC losses that included two in tournament play.
Vanderbilt named the former basketball player who has spent her professional career with the Commodores as their first female athletic director Tuesday, when the university announced it had accepted Malcolm Turner’s resignation after a year on the job. Lee said she had been busy for the previous 24 hours keeping her head down and working with Vanderbilt’s coaches and staff, not thinking much on what this means overall.
“I understand the responsibility that this is, and I think that the most important thing is we have to get to the point where there are others,” Lee said. “Carla Williams was the first African American woman to lead a Power Five institution. And we need a second and and a third and a fourth, and then we will know we’re truly making a difference.”