For most individuals, the opportunity to speak to an Ivy League president, provost, admissions director, or athletic director is a special occasion. For Jeff Orleans, it is his job.
Orleans is the Executive Director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, and has held the position since 1984.
His position is unique in the history of the Ivy League as he is the first person to act in this role as a full-time job. In fact, when Orleans began, there was no Ivy League Office and his secretary was on two-thirds time.
While most are aware of the Ivy League as a collection of some of the best academic schools in the country, it is often forgotten that the League was originally established as an athletic conference. Orleans is responsible for administering this aspect of the Ivy League.
The Ivy League office, in Princeton, N.J., coordinates officiating, championships, NCAA grant programs and everything else that is necessary to make a sports program run.
He reports directly to the eight Ivy League presidents and works closely with the athletic directors. His office features three interns and two support staff members.
However, running the Ivy League is different than running a conference like the Big East or Conference USA.
"Most different from other conferences, [there is] a real sense of Ivy League identity and culture."
Orleans believes it is his responsibility to foster that culture -- where athletes are students first. Furthermore he works to drive the eight schools to have the same goals and and to follow the same rules and procedures to reach those goals.
The office also has the ability to sanction schools for not following those rules and procedures, such as the ban on athletic scholarships.
"We have the authority and responsibility to investigate an action and impose a penalty."
However, such scenarios occur roughly once every decade.
The Ivy League presents some tremendously unique challenges to the executive director -- including meeting both the needs of a NFL-bound football player and a volleyball player who never gets in the game.
"We treat everyone the same," Orleans said. "We value every student equally."
Due to the league's uniqueness, Orleans expends a great deal of energy trying to keep the league in line with the rest of NCAA Division I and attempting to persuade the NCAA to set goals closer to those of the Ivy League.
Orleans considers it imperative to demonstrate the talent and sincerity of the Ivy League.
"We try to make clear that we are athletically serious, not just a bunch of dilettantes," Orleans said.
He added that there is a lot of politics, and that finding support for League policies is not always easy. Therefore, he tries to offer a little quid pro quo by trying to support other conferences and their policies in order to curry support for the Ivies.
Another significant part of his job is keeping alumni happy. He finds himself often reminding fans that the Ivy League is unique, especially when a top recruit decides not to attend an Ivy League school.
Orleans believes a great reckoning is coming in the future, as athletics at big programs continue to get bigger and bigger.
"All athletics will have to make some fundamental decisions," Orleans said.
Schools will all have to consider whether they can continue to act as they currently do -- pursuing national championships, recruiting from a worldwide pool, and continuing to offer a large number of sports at the varsity level.
Orleans admitted that Ivy League teams often do not have high expectations and that therefore, "their success is a little extra special."
Even though Orleans holds two Yale degrees, he is not partial to Yale athletes.
"I have done this enough that I have respect for every school," Orleans said. "I find it hard to go to league games."
But in inter-conference games, there is no question who Orleans is rooting for.
