’s been a news anchor, a sideline reporter asking the NBA 76ers coach tough questions during a losing game, and a competitor in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials.
Now, Sullivan is in front of journalism classes peppering lectures with sports metaphors and her oft-repeated phrase, “This is what you came for.”
This being the competitive nature of journalism combined with the fast-changing world of sports.
Sullivan says she's gearing students up for an exciting career that will test their moral compass and their news judgment. “I’m not preparing our students for a career in journalism and sports broadcasting — how’s that for a plot twist? — I’m preparing them for reality, as I truly champion each and every student and bring out their best qualities,” Sullivan said.
A Las Vegas native, Sullivan started teaching in fall 2022 after taking over the reins of video broadcast and sports concentration at the UNLV Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies. She teaches courses in media and sports and the production of Studio G, the school’s live newscast.
Sullivan, a Green Valley High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received a scholarship to swim and competed in the U.S. Olympics.
Her resume includes producing, writing, entertainment reporting, covering the , working in the Mountain West Sports Network, and covering the inaugural season of the Las Vegas Raiders. She began her NBC Sports career as a reporter in Philadelphia, where the love of sport runs through the DNA of every fan in Philly. It could be a tough, but thrilling, audience to serve.
She sees the same energy growing among fans in Las Vegas.
Sullivan has long been waiting for Las Vegas to evolve into the sports town that it has become today. As a middle-schooler at Barbara & Hank Greenspun Junior High, she declared that she wanted to be a sports anchor.
“This is the stuff dreams are made of,” she said. “For so long Las Vegas and Southern Nevada were a bargaining chip for a bigger, better deal. Nobody took our city seriously. We have shown the city and world and country that we are a leader in sports and entertainment; there’s no other city that intertwines sports and entertainment hand in hand."
But, she cautions that Vegas status isn't something to take for granted.
“I don’t think you ever want the mindset of ‘We have arrived,'" she said. "You start to become complacent. You never want to reach the top and stay there.”
Teaching Courtside
When Sullivan reflects on her career, she is honest with students about what she could have done differently.
“I learned by trial and error. I made a lot of mistakes. Still am. And I hope those mistakes will help the next generation... Oh, and by the way, they are not the next generation, they are the now,” Sullivan said.
She emphasizes journalism’s role as a public service. She tells students to dismiss any preconceived notions that sports journalism is all glitz and glamour.
Students must be equipped with skills in critical thinking, fact checking, and gathering multiple sources in order to build their credibility. That's especially crucial in an age when misinformation is on the rise, she said. Students can be sports fans, but they should be professionals first. They need, said Sullivan, to understand that the sports industry is an intersection of topics ranging from history and business to civil rights and politics.
“You have to be there to tell the story. It's not about you."
Besides sharpening their skills, Sullivan is also teaching students about leadership and team building. Whether it’s broadcasting or news writing for a digital media outlet, she wants the students to realize that they are part of a team.
“The real talent is behind the scenes — the audio engineering, the producers, directors, graphics. Understanding of how the entire operation is run is paramount,” Sullivan said.
Sounds like what a coach would do.
“I treat everything like it’s game seven,” she said.
Sullivan kicks off her classes with an exercise in vulnerability. She asks students to anonymously write down what they fear, and then she reads the notes out loud.
What does tackling their fears have to do with storytelling?
“They had similar fears — each not knowing where their fear originated. I pointed to each paper and I said, ‘That is your task, that is your fear — that is what we are taking on this semester,’" she instructed the students.
She stresses to students why they need a support system of friends, family, and colleagues with a similar ethical philosophy.
“This business will test you early and often. You will be eaten alive. So, understanding your fears and understanding who you are, your values, will help you navigate this work,” Sullivan said. “The next great journalist is in this building. Bigger than that, the next great leader. The next great thinker, innovator — who will change the game. The work I’ve observed backs up those statements."
It's what she tells her students courtside, just before they go on air: “Own your magic. You’re more than enough,” Sullivan said.
