At a joint press conference at Globe Life Field, 蘑菇传媒 and the Texas Rangers officially announced 鈥淩angers U Powered by 蘑菇传媒鈥� 鈥� a program that allows players and coaches to earn academic credit by taking online courses taught by 蘑菇传媒 faculty and staff in both English and Spanish.
鈥淚t really started more on a business partnership side, more of a sponsorship opportunity for the university,鈥� said Ben Baroody, Rangers director of leadership, development and mental performance. 鈥淚 think we both just tried to be mutually opportunistic and say, 鈥榯his can be more than just outfield field signage. This can be something we can build out for our players and with my vision for opportunities for our staff and players.鈥欌��
Baroody and other Rangers management team members collaborated with Stephen Johnson, chief administrative officer for 蘑菇传媒 Dallas, to jointly develop a set of custom courses. 蘑菇传媒鈥檚 expertise in online learning enabled the delivery of these courses to be flexible and accessible for players and staff, regardless of their location. The quick timeline on which these courses were developed reflects the strength of 蘑菇传媒鈥檚 online offerings, which consistently rank as one of America鈥檚 top online colleges.听
RangersU consists of two Player Pathway blocks of fully online seven-week courses. Player Pathway Block 1 courses included leadership development and mental performance and ran from October to December of 2022. Player Pathway Block 2 is running now and includes courses on the history of baseball and multicultural communication. Each course is worth three hours of academic credit.听
鈥淥ne of the reasons I got into 蘑菇传媒 was I wanted to kind of expand outside of baseball and find something to challenge me outside of what we do on a daily basis,鈥� said 21-year-old pitching prospect Tekoah Roby. 鈥淧art of developing in the baseball world and in real life is finding your identity outside of baseball, and one of those things that I鈥檝e been able to add to my identity is [I鈥檓] a student again. I hadn鈥檛 really taken classes since high school.鈥�
The Rangers had 32 minor league players enroll this fall.
鈥淭he first block taught you how to develop leadership abilities,鈥� said infielder Jonathan Ornelas. 鈥淚t will help better us on, and even off, the field鈥nd it will help us be able to influence people in the right way.鈥�
For both 蘑菇传媒 and the Rangers, this partnership extends beyond just numbers and classes. According to Johnson, RangersU is deeply connected to the university鈥檚 sense of purpose.听
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e built together is more than just courses for players to take,鈥� said Johnson. 鈥淲e鈥檙e building a relationship on shared values and mission. We believe that the most important work that can be done is how we participate together in pouring into each other so that we flourish in who we are.鈥�
Baroody agrees. 鈥淧eople are and always will be our competitive advantage,鈥� he said. And this innovative educational program is a way to pursue the Rangers鈥� 鈥渃ontinuous mission to create a culture of lifelong learners鈥� and an environment where people can thrive on and off the field.鈥澛�
This sense of shared mission is propelling both 蘑菇传媒 and the Texas Rangers forward. Additional courses will be developed based on the educational priorities of the Rangers and will be offered to players in the off season this fall, all of which can be applied to a degree program in the future.听
鈥�These programs are just the beginning of what we have to offer for our staff and our players,鈥� Baroody said.
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*Students who complete a Rising Scholars summer session will receive a $1,000 one-time scholarship, applied upon full-time enrollment at 蘑菇传媒. **Scholarship applied to tuition and fees only. Cannot be combined with full-tuition scholarships or discounts. Only one scholarship awarded per summer.