What makes West Texas A&M President Pat O’Brien tick? Intercollegiate athletics, for one. And Division II, for two.

O’Brien, a member of the Division II Presidents Council and a key figure in helping the division develop and adopt its most recent three-year strategic plan, talked with the NCAA’s Champion magazine recently about what makes college sports special, and why Division II provides a healthy platform for student-athletes to succeed on the fields and courts and in the classroom.

Here’s what O’Brien says about the value of athletics participation:

“Athletics is an extension of the educational process in the classroom. We can do things through athletics, as we can through drama and membership on the debate team and membership in FFA. Students can learn things through athletics (and through other co-curricular activities) that they will not learn in the classroom – self-discipline, teamwork, leadership, dedication to a task. Athletics, like drama, marching band, speech club, FFA, ROTC, is not an extra-curricular, but a co-curricular activity.”

Read the Q&A with O’Brien in a Champion magazine online special.

For a larger profile on the West Texas A&M president, click here.