CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Former Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage and volleyball player Milla Ciprian were honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference today (Oct. 18) as Virginia’s recipients of the 2023 ACC UNITE Award.
The award was created to honor individuals affiliated with the league who promote and encourage racial equity and social justice through education, partnerships, engagement and advocacy. Those selected have helped create meaningful, lasting change by improving systems, organizational structures, policies, practices and attitudes or have been pioneers and/or helped pave the way for minorities either at the institution or in the community.
The UNITE Award is an initiative of the ACC’s Committee for Racial and Social Justice (CORE – Champions of Racial Equity). Each school selects its two recipients based on the above criteria and can choose to celebrate their selections at campus events throughout the academic year.
Littlepage was named Virginia’s athletics director in 2001, becoming the first African-American athletics director in both ACC and school history. Through his leadership, student-athletes saw success in their sport, in the classroom and in the community. Virginia teams won 13 national championships and 76 ACC titles during his tenure.
As a pioneer in college athletics, Littlepage was named the Black Coaches Association’s “Athletics Administrator of the Year” in 2003 and 2006 and made Sports Illustrated’s list of the 101 most influential minorities in sports in 2003 and 2004. He has presented and mentored at the NCAA’s Ethnic Minority Male Institute and the Black Coaches Administrator Association and was named one of Black Enterprise magazine’s “Most Powerful African-Americans in Sports.” Additionally, he has led NCAA leadership development programs which were designed to help aspiring football and basketball head coach and athletics administrator candidates.
Littlepage retired from his position in 2017 after 35 combined years of service at UVA (16 years as athletic director, 11 years in other administrative capacities and eight years across two stints as an assistant men’s basketball coach) before transitioning to a position in the university president’s office.
His leadership was praised by staff, coaches, and students. ACC Commissioner John Swofford also honored Littlepage: “Craig is one of the most highly respected individuals within the ACC, among his peers, and across the…