SFSU Magazine Summer 2005 Alumni and Friends: Getting to the Point

Getting to the Point
Kevin Anderson(B.A., '79) wanted the job at West Point more than any other he's ever had. He felt it the morning of his final interview when he arrived at the military academy.

"Once you actually set foot on the soil and imagine all the great people who have walked these grounds, well, it was one of the most exciting moments in my life," says Anderson, a graduate of SFSU's political science department.

As the newly named athletic director at West Point, Anderson is the first African American to head an athletic department at any of the service military academies.

"I wish I could take credit," he says, "but there are so many pioneers that made it possible for me to be where I am today."

Born and raised in San Francisco, Anderson says his father, a sergeant in the Army, helped prepare him for the position at West Point. Anderson graduated from Lincoln High School, then attended SFSU where he played football under famed coach Vic Rowan, a major motivating personality in shaping both his play on the football field and his course in life.

"Rowan was the one who convinced me to go to State," Anderson says. After an injury sidelined him, Rowan helped convince Anderson to stay in college and graduate.

Anderson's résumé includes stints in the athletic departments at the University of California, Berkeley, Oregon State and Stanford, where Anderson worked with then-provost, now U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has described him as "someone of integrity who cares about the academic and athletic experience of the student."

-- Tracie White