Modern leadership styles such as transformational and transactional leadership are well documented and practiced within the intercollegiate athletic industry. Although the case, inequities and historic scandals have continued to negatively impact the industry. As a result, practitioners and scholars alike have advocated for a reexamination of various leadership styles and practices. Various scholars have proposed that servant leadership may be a solution to the inequities and scandals faced in the industry. While the benefits of servant leadership have been well documented in literature, no study has examined the antecedents within the context of intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of this study was to examine the characteristics, experiences, and practices of servant leadership among Athletic Directors and other senior level administrators. A two-part, mixed method approach was utilized in this study. The first phase included the utilization of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), and multiple regression analysis. The second phase include semi-structure interviewing of athletic directors and other senior level administrators. The results of this study indicated three main findings: First, senior level administrators exhibit servant leadership characteristics, people oriented, humility, authenticity, commitment to ethical behavior, providing direction, and wisdom. Secondly, childhood experiences, role models, religious experiences and professional development experiences influenced servant leadership behavior among senior level administrators. Thirdly, senior level administrators who exhibit servant leadership characteristics, implement various people-centric practices that demonstrate servant leadership behaviors. The results, practical implications and potential for future studies were also discussed in this study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]