KAPPAS IN SPORTS
A Conversation with Donald R. Remy, Esq. Executive Vice President for Law, Policy and Governance at the NCAA
By Clarence Tucker
Journal: Brother Remy, I really appreci- ate you taking the time to do this inter- view. I’d first like to start of by asking about your scholastic background and educational criteria in general. Remy: I graduated from Louisiana State University in 1988 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. I was a
Journal: Upon your discharge from the Army when you transitioned to the civil- ian sector, in what area of law did you practice? Remy: I’ve been a litigator my entire career. My time in the Army want spent focused on major weapons systems acquisition. When I left the Pentagon I
Reno during the Clinton Administration as an assistant attorney general. I went from there to another law firm, and from there to Fannie Mae during the financial crisis. I was their deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer. When I left there, I was working on the business side as one of the senior vice presidents
for housing and development. I left Fannie and went to Latham & Watkins, LLP, which is a large, global firm, it was while I was at Latham, that I got tapped for this job. Now, my practice at Latham had noth- ing to do with higher education or sports. But at the same time, I was actually a coach in the com- munity of youth basketball. So, I had a passion for youth basketball,
charter member of the chapter there made in Spring 1987 under Lambda Sigma, but the chapter was Nu Iota. I went to law school at The Howard University School of Law. I graduated in 1991 and then began to practice law. Journal: Upon grad- uating from Howard, what type of law did you initially practice?
Remy: Initially I went into the
Pentagon. I was in the ROTC while a
student at LSU. So my first legal job was as an assistant to the general counsel of the army. Journal: So, you were active duty in the US Army after law school? Remy: I was active duty and the pro- gram was called the Honors Program. It basically took junior officers and had them serve as counsel for the Army Sec- retariat. I like to joke that my first legal job was at the Pentagon as a lawyer, and my first client at the time was the Secre- tary of the Army. A number of different major political appointees and general officers also served as my clients around the time I was there at the Pentagon.
clerked on the 6 th Circuit for Judge Na- thaniel Jones (Beta Pi 1948) (See Spring 2016 issue on page 21), a brother, Lau- rel Wreath Laureate, and one of my best mentors throughout my entire career. Af- ter clerking for him, I came back to DC and begin my practice at a large law firm where I did litigation and class action defense work. Journal: What led you to the position that you now hold? Remy: If I listed my timeline before I got to the NCAA, it wouldn’t be intuitive to anybody. I served in the justice de- partment under Attorney General Janet
and a passion for helping young men grow up, and develop, and mature. So, I think it was more my avocation becom- ing my vocation than anything else. Journal: Tell me exactly what your cur- rent position is and how long have you been in it? Remy: I’ve been in this job for 6 years. I started here as the general counsel and vice president. I now hold the title of Executive Vice President for Law Policy and Governance and am still the organi- zation’s chief legal officer. My responsi- bilities now are much broader than the legal department.
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL FALL 2017 | 195
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