Our Team

Dr. Eddie Comeaux is a professor and founding executive director of the Center for Athletes’ Rights and Equity (CARE), where racial equity and policy issues in higher education are central to his work. Comeaux has authored more than 75 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other academic publications and reports. He has also published five books, including: College Athletes’ Rights and Well-Being: Critical Perspectives on Policy and Practice (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017), and has consulted with a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations on equity and diversity strategies. Comeaux’s work has been featured or quoted in the Wall Street Journal, NPR, HuffPost, Forbes, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and many other outlets. For his scholarly work, in April 2019, he received the Outstanding Contribution Award from AERA’s Research Focus on Education and Sport Special Interest Group (SIG). The year prior, in April 2018, he received the Dr. Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Exemplary Scholarship from AERA’s Multicultural/Multiethnic Education SIG. Prior to earning his Ph.D., he was drafted out of the University of California, Berkeley in the amateur free draft by the Texas Rangers baseball organization– and spent four years playing professionally.

Harrison is also a lecturer at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management; the Sports Leadership and Management Minor; the Center for Media, Entertainment and Sports; UCLA Extension; and a facilitator/instructor at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He currently is an educational consultant for JUMP (Justice for Upward Mobility Project).

Dr. C. Keith Harrison is a retired (Full) Professor of Business, Hip Hop, and Sport from UCF. He served as Director of Online Education and Distributed Learning for the sport business program and as founding director (2006–2014) of The Minor that’s Major™ Sport Business Management Undergraduate Program. Dr. Harrison also served as Interim and Acting DeVos Chair in the College of Business during Fall 2014. He earned the 2020–21 Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellowship at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Studies.

Dr. Harrison created the Business of Hip Hop Innovation and Creative Industries Certificate in Fall 2020 at UCF, as well as the Business of Hip Hop Research Lab and Studio (est. 2020–2025). This was the first college of business in higher education to offer an academic program on the topic. UCF Continuing Education also partnered with him to create a history of hip hop course (HH51).

Dr. Harrison has taught leadership, diversity and inclusion, events and facilities, and sport marketing at both the graduate and undergraduate levels; a doctoral course on sports data driving theory with practice; and co-taught innovation and entrepreneurship in sport and entertainment with Reggie Saunders (VP of Entertainment Marketing at Jordan Brand).

Dr. Harrison has numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters disseminating from the Paul Robeson Research Center for Innovative Academic and Athletic Prowess, established in Ann Arbor in 1998. He was Co-Editor of the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics (2009–2011), housed at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently Senior Editor-in-Chief (2015–present) of the Journal of Higher Education, Athletics, Labor & Innovation, housed at the University of Oklahoma.

He co-edited a book with Scott J. Bukstein on Sport Business Data Analytics, published by Taylor & Francis (2016), which is used by several universities, colleges, and industry professionals across major sports leagues. His second book, published by Cognella Press (2020/21), is The Fifth Element Is Knowledge: Education, Hip-Hop, and Sport (co-edited with Eddie Comeaux and Reggie Saunders). His third book, A Circle Inside of a Box: The Business of Hip Hop Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was published by Kendall Hunt (2021/22). His most recent book is Can’t Knock the Hip Hop Hustle: From Idea to Innovation to Globalization, an A–Z Alphabet for All Ages, published in 2024 by Innovative Ink Publishing.

His career focus includes the identity of the student-athlete and professional athlete experience; diversity and inclusion issues related to gender and race relations in education, business, sport, and entertainment; and the marketing of emerging multicultural demographics in the global environment, particularly fan engagement.

Dr. Harrison’s clients, partnerships, and collaborations past and present include the NFL, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Bally Sports, USC football program, Detroit Pistons, Jacksonville Jaguars, the NCAA, University of Oregon, Jordan Brand, Boise State University, UCLA’s School of Education, Wharton Sports Business Academy, UC Boulder’s Business of Sport Certificate, University of South Carolina, and numerous intercollegiate athletic departments through his co-founded nonprofit Scholar-Baller and Athletes Think initiative.

Since 2012, Dr. C. Keith Harrison has been the principal investigator, researcher, and co-author with Scott J. Bukstein for the NFL’s “Good Business” series, focusing on diversity and inclusion initiatives within the NFL, as well as female spectators and influencers of the NFL brand. He has been a guest columnist for Sport Business Journal in the area of cultural innovation in sport business and entertainment management.

In 2025, Dr. Harrison and his colleague and former PhD student Dr. Eddie Comeaux were recognized by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Research Focus on Education and Sport (RFES) with the Founder’s Award.

Dr. Harrison is originally from Gardena and Cerritos, suburbs of Los Angeles, and is a former California Community College and NCAA scholar-athlete at Cerritos College and West Texas A&M, where he started at center at both schools and served as team captain during his sophomore and senior years. He is the proud godfather of his nephew, Tre Harrison, a standout Scholar-Baller in football, basketball, and track and field at Serra High School in Gardena (Class of 2025), who has committed to UC Berkeley.

Dr. Harrison retired on May 7, 2025, after 30 years as a full-time faculty member at Washington State University (two years), the University of Michigan (seven years), Arizona State University (two years), and UCF (19 years).

Briana A. Savage, M.Ed, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education Administration and Policy program at the University of California, Riverside. Briana's research interests include Black male college athlete development, the racialization and gendered experiences of Black women college athletes, and college athlete postgraduate career transitions. She works on projects aimed towards helping college athletes develop a sense of self; navigate the academic enterprise; utilize campus resources; and gain skills and experiences that will generate opportunities for postgraduate success. 

Briana's scholarship is published in multiple journals including Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, and the Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics.

She earned her M.Ed in Postsecondary Administration at USC Rossier School of Education and earned her B.A. in Political Science, with a double minor in Education and Public Policy from the University of California, Los Angeles. Briana has been a Teaching Assistant, Graduate Student Researcher, and Graduate Student Assistant for the FIERCE/BCEP program within the UCR School of Education. She previously interned for UCLA Athletics and Cal Poly Pomona Intercollegiate Athletics, in which she gained experience working directly with college athletes and assisted with compliance duties.

Eric Davidson is a Ph.D. student from San Diego, California studying Higher Education Administration and Policy at UCR. His research addresses political and economic (in)justice in the fields of intercollegiate athletics and international higher education. Additionally, he advocates for knowledge sovereignty and decolonization in both local and global contexts.

Eric joined CARE in 2020 after earning his B.A. in political science and M.A. in higher education from the University of Arizona. A lifelong action and outdoor sports athlete, he became interested in college athletics as an undergrad. During graduate school, he worked for Arizona Athletics as a study hall supervisor and as an instructor for an athletic identity course. As a Research Associate for CARE, Eric is involved in multiple ongoing studies, from community college athletes' experiences to athletics administration career pipelines. His scholarship appears in outlets such as the Journal for the Study of Sports and Athletes in Schools, About Campus, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education and American Educational Research Association conferences. In addition to CARE, Eric holds roles on campus as a teaching assistant for the UCR School of Education and as a writing mentor in its Writing Support Program.

Kimberly Valencia-Franco, M.Ed., is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education Administration and Policy program at the University of California, Riverside. Her research concentration looks into the lived experiences of first-generation Latina/o college athletes, support systems, and the resources utilized during their scholarship. Kimberly joined CARE in 2021 as an undergraduate research assistant. Her journey with education began through dual-enrollment classes at her local high school at the age of sixteen. Continuing through Riverside City College and receiving four AA/AS degrees across different areas of study. After transferring to UCR, she earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Education. Kimberly earned her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration and Policy during her first year in the Ph.D. program. Her passion for college athletics stems from her experience as a former varsity athlete. Kimberly’s scholarship can be viewed in the Journal of Higher Education, Athletics, Labor & Innovation. In addition to CARE, Kimberly currently holds the role as a teaching assistant for the UCR School of Education.

Dresden June Frazier, M.A., is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education Administration and Policy program at the University of California, Riverside. Dresden is a scholar-activist committed to humanizing education through love, justice, joy, and rest. She is originally from San Luis Obispo, California where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. While at Cal Poly, Dresden was a walk-on Division I Track and Field Athlete competing in the 100-meter hurdles. Dresden received her master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco. Her research explores Black athlete's racial identity development and centers the rights of Black athletes, specifically their right to engage in activism. Dresden seeks to humanize the experiences of Black athletes on college campuses, allowing them to step out of the singular identity prescribed to them by society, and instead define themselves however they see fit. 

Dr. Guillermo Ortega is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at Texas Tech University. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Houston. His research employs critical qualitative and quantitative methods to examine how colleges and universities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) reproduce systemic and racial inequities that shape academic and athletic opportunities for Latina/o/x students. Dr. Ortega is the recipient of the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) Early Career Award in Sports and Education, has been named a Faculty Fellow with the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE), serves as a faculty affiliate with Project MALES at the University of Texas at Austin, and is a fellow at the Center for Minority-Serving Institutions. His work has been funded by The Joyce Foundation, State Farm, and the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE), among others. His research has appeared in AERA Open, The Journal of Higher Education, Teachers College Record, and other outlets.
 

Sara E. Grummert, PhD, is the Academic Director for the Institute for Mixed Methods Research. In her role, she partners with organizations on research design, data analysis, implementation, and evaluation.

Dr. Grummert earned her doctorate from the University of California Riverside in higher education administration and policy. Broadly, her scholarship examines whiteness and antiblackness in higher education, with a focus on how college sport functions in relation to state violence. Her dissertation, Carcerality and College Athletics: State Methods of Enclosure Within and Through College Sport, documented the experiences of former and current athletes with mechanisms of discipline, punishment, and surveillance within higher education. Additionally, Sara has collaborated on scholarship published in the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, The Journal of Higher Education, The Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, the Journal of Higher Education Athletics & Innovation, among others.

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