General 6/2/2014 8:24:00 AM

Top Sports Clients Consult with Bronco Alum Dan Beebe

Dan Beebe's client list includes the Auburn, Alabama and Florida athletic departments. He's featured in the photo on the right, wearing No. 54.

POMONA, Calif. – Charles Dickens once wrote, "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another."

The usefulness of the Dan Beebe Group is quickly growing as the group places its primary focus on risk management within the sports world.

A former football student-athlete and 1979 graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, Dan Beebe now lives in Kansas City where he heads the Dan Beebe Group. It specializes in workplace training related to sex abuse, hostile work environments, wrongful termination and harassment. Some of the group's clients include the Houston Texans and the Auburn, Alabama and Florida athletic departments.

In April, Beebe returned to Pomona and received the university's Distinguished Alumni Award.

"It was a wonderful opportunity to have Dan back on campus and honor him with the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award," Cal Poly Pomona Director of Athletics Brian Swanson said. "Dan has and continues to be a game changer in college athletics. He is a tremendous advocate for the student-athlete experience and extremely innovative and committed to the ever-changing landscape of our industry. We are glad Dan is on our team."

Beebe has distinguished himself throughout his career, a journey that started at the NCAA in rules enforcement. He took an interesting path to that first job and CPP turned out to be an important step.

First, Beebe attended Walla Walla Community College in his hometown of Walla Walla, Wash.

"Two of my buddies who also played at Walla Walla transferred with me to Cal Poly Pomona," Beebe says. "We knew the program had success with Jim Zorn and going to CPP was a chance to experience something new with an education in Southern California."

The alumni bonds remain strong for Beebe. He is still in contact with former Walla Walla and Bronco teammate Bob Price, who has had an impressive coaching career with his most recent tenure at the University of Virginia.

At the Distinguished Alumni dinner in April, Beebe reconnected with Kinesiology equipment technician Mike Esquivel. Those two friends played alongside each other on the Broncos' offensive line. Coached by Jim Jones, Beebe helped CPP earn impressive football wins against Santa Clara, Sacramento State and Cal State Northridge.

"As a student-athlete, Cal Poly Pomona gave me an opportunity to enhance my education," Beebe says. "There are so many things you learn from being involved with athletics, whether it's being able to work well with others to being able to bounce back up after getting knocked down. There's always another goal to achieve, from first making the team, to then trying to play significant minutes and finally to help the program win games."

After graduation from CPP, Beebe went to law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. After time with the NCAA and at the institution level with Wichita State, he served as the Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner from 1989 through 2003. Beebe then moved to the Big 12 Conference and took the league's commissioner role in 2007.

His impact in sports continues to grow as President of the Dan Beebe Group, which is in its third year of existence.

"Stories of misconduct are becoming more and more frequent these days, both in professional and amateur sports," Beebe says. "That has increased the importance of our work as we offer independent expertise on improving the culture of the workplace and student-athlete environment. Within those areas, it's important that everyone is connected and protected."

With 30 years of experience working in sports, Beebe is certainly proud of his beginnings as a Cal Poly Pomona student-athlete.