The Progressive Era affected the South in different ways from other regions of the United States. Because Southern society was more entrenched in patriarchy and traditional social strictures, Nashville provides an excellent lens in which to assess the vision of a New South city. Known as “Athens of the South,” Nashville legitimized this title with the emergence of several colleges and universities of regional and national prominence in the 1880s and 1890s. In the first two decades of the twentieth century, Nashville’s universities solidified their status as reputable institutions, with Vanderbilt and Fisk Universities garnering national prominence. Within Nashville, local colleges, including Ward Belmont College, David Lipscomb University, Peabody College, Roger Williams University, and Meharry Medical College shaped and were shaped by the growing city. Higher education and urbanization created a dialectic that produced a new generation and a new monied class of young adults who thought and acted differently from their parents. Moreover, women became more active participants in public spheres because of opportunities provided by higher education. In most cases, Nashville’s women continued to use their husband’s prominence to earn greater success. In regard to race, the city’s African American colleges helped to produce men and women who formed the backbone of the rising black middle class and elite in the South. Nashville endured great change, formally beginning with the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition, whereby the city’s trajectory followed a more modern approach, albeit southern style. Higher education played a large role in the direction of the city, both literally and figuratively. Shifts in attitude toward race, gender, and leisure combined to create a new youth culture. Young women and men socialized on and off campus through a variety of new forms of recreation. The experience of “college life” was more than attending classes but rather a fluid phase beginning with youthfulness and ending with adulthood. Social interaction increasingly became a major component of college life; the city of Nashville simply provided the stage. By U.S. entrance into World War I, Nashville had legitimized its position as a Southern urban center of entertainment and higher education.

Student-athletes have the opportunity for significant development that can enhance their undergraduate experience through participation in intercollegiate athletics. The commercial and cultural influence of professional sports has, however, increasingly challenged the efforts of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to maintain a developmental focus. Some college sports, particularly football and men's basketball, are now relied upon to generate revenue, which requires successful outcomes and accountability to commercial interests. The disproportionate influence of those revenue sports on Division I athletic culture challenges the credibility of all collegiate sports as appropriate components of higher education. This case study examines the women's gymnastics team at a large Division I institution, Big State University (BSU), over the course of the 2010 season. BSU Gymnastics has achieved sufficient competitive success that the coaches were subject to similar pressure to that which their football and basketball colleagues experienced. The study is a qualitative investigation of the leadership and mentoring practices of the coaching staff, particularly in regard to their ability to maintain a focus on student-athlete development in the face of external pressure from various stakeholders to prioritize winning. Using control systems theory and a new typology of sport, the researcher interviewed coaches and student-athletes, analyzed BSU's 2010 season, and found that the coaches consistently prioritized the developmental experience of their student-athletes. A significant additional finding of the study is that coaches play a critical buffering role, sheltering student-athletes from influences that might otherwise undermine the beneficial aspects of intercollegiate athletics participation.

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