SU to host PNW Academy of Legal Studies in Business Conference

Seattle University will host this year’s annual conference of the Pacific Northwest Academy of Legal Studies in Business (PNALSB), April 14-15 at Sullivan Hall in the School of Law. The conference is designed to help lead conversations on sports and entertainment, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and law and regulation around Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).

SU's MBA in Sport Entertainment Management (SEM) is the conference sponsor and a leader in the emerging multidisciplinary conversations surrounding DEI and NIL. 

The first day of the conference will feature a lunch keynote address from Hewan Teshome, senior vice president and general counsel of the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, a vital partner of Seattle University. Her address will be in conversation with Seattle University President Eduardo Peñalver.

"The MBA in Sport and Entertainment Management program is founded on our university values of diversity and inclusion," explains Eva Sedgwick, the director of SU's MBA SEM. "This conference is a chance for us to publicly support scholarship and organizational practices, such as those of partners like the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, that advance the role of DEI in higher education and in workplaces across the sports and entertainment industries."

The subject of NIL is certainly a popular one, but the PNALSB conference will be the first time it will be comprehensively addressed, simultaneously, by experts in academia, industry and law in Washington. Big picture, everyone agrees a student-athlete should have every opportunity to succeed in life, the classroom and in the sport they play. But legislators, institutions and varied professionals must ensure a clear set of rules to achieve those ends.  

“There’s been a lot of noise around Name, Image and Likeness, but not as much thoughtful dialogue,” explains Dr. Natalie Welch, an assistant professor in the MBA SEM program who will take part in a NIL panel at the conference. “This conference will explore NIL deeply and explain the disruption it has created in the world of sports. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of how NIL impacts student-athletes across all sports, schools, conferences and states.”

On the second day, after more discussion and the annual business meeting of the PNALSB, attendees will attend a Seattle Mariners game at T-Mobile Park. 

To learn more about the conference and register click here. For media inquiries, contact Lincoln Vander Veen at 425-830-2448 or vanderv1@seattleu.edu