Lehigh University Athletics
Slaton's Desire to Learn and Grow Leads to a Lifetime of Leadership
2/21/2022 4:38:00 PM | Football, Support, Features, Inclusive Excellence and Belonging
As part of Black Excellence Month in Partnership with Lehigh's Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, Lehigh Athletics will be telling the story of a former student-athlete or coach of color. We continue with former football standout A.D. Slaton.
By: Justin Lafleur, Lehigh Sports Communications.@LehighFootball alum A.D. Slaton '01 graduated with his degree in marketing. But Slaton's appetite for learning, growing and ultimately leading would draw him back to the field of engineering where he has thrived.
— Lehigh Sports (@LehighSports) February 21, 2022
Full story: https://t.co/iyEd6LR1MK@LehighU | @LehighAlumni pic.twitter.com/A1pCUQvWxC
When Antraveous Slaton '01 came to Lehigh, he initially wanted to be an engineer, but ended up graduating with his degree in marketing.
Flash forward nine years after graduation, and Slaton's appetite for learning drew him back to the field of engineering.
"Many engineers use one side of the brain," he said. "I believe I'm fortunate enough to use both sides. I got that marketing talking-to-people background, and also gained experience with things like writing code.
"Couple that together, it makes me unique."
Nicknamed A.D., Slaton is currently Senior Director of Architecture with Warner Media.
"My job is to make sure we're delivering on our sports brands," said Slaton, who is married to his wife Tai and they have five children. "That includes brands like Bleacher Report, NCAA March Madness Live, delivering video to HBO Max and things of that nature. My job is to create software solutions, so you then have those particular apps in your hands. I build partnerships with certain software providers, then I design solutions based on what the businesses want.
"I design solutions to give to the engineers, and they build it."
Slaton has been at both sides of the process. He began at Warner Media in 2011 as a software application developer (an engineer). An Atlanta native, Slaton has also worked as an engineer with CNN.com for eight years.
"I grew from a developer/engineer who writes the codes to build the buttons up, to an architect, and I actually design how we're going to implement this button," he said. "CNN is part of Warner Media, so I left CNN and came over to the sports side and was working with the NBA – working on NBA.com and things of that nature. Now, I'm basically working on all the brands."
Slaton's road to this point is unique.
"I realized at that time [when I entered Lehigh in 1997], that sports were very important to me and I was a football player, so I went down that route and got my degree from Lehigh in marketing," he said. "Post-graduation, I did sales, I did real estate, I did financial services, I did insurance and found that wasn't where I wanted to be.
"I was an engineer," Slaton continued. "I was an engineer at heart."
Slaton went back to school to learn the foundations of engineering. He did it not for a tangible degree, but because of his desire to learn.
"I went back to a community college, Dekalb Tech," said Slaton. "That was a two-year school, then I left and went to Southern Polytech. I started doing the master's of software engineering program, which gave me the framework to begin building what I'm doing today."
At age 29, Slaton became an intern.
"I was an intern at this agency and was determined to grow," he said. "From that internship, I used the knowledge I gained to then get a job that fall (as a software developer with Siteworx) – my first job as an engineer."
Fueling Slaton all along was his desire to learn, grow… and ultimately lead.
"I had an appetite for learning," he said. "How did this work? How does the internet work? I was just questioning things, and found that I enjoyed it. I wasn't necessarily a sales person, which I was doing in marketing.
"I knew I was a person who could create things with his hands. The more I was in there doing, the more I learned."
Leading then came naturally for Slaton. When he was younger, others thought he would be a pastor.
"I've always had the ability to pull people together," he said. "I think it's my voice. All of that in my history gave me the appetite to really impact people."
An opportunity for impact arose through Slaton's engineering work.
"I learned and grew, and found that as I was growing, I noticed certain people under me weren't growing as fast, so I decided to start teaching them," he said. "'This is how you do it.' That led me to become an architect because part of architecture is talking to people and documenting it."
Slaton's leadership potential was in him all along. Now, he's flourishing in a field he loves.
"When I was in high school, I was told I was a leader," he said. "I was in these leadership committees, but I didn't quite understand what it meant. It became apparent to me when my senior year at Lehigh, I won the Barry Fetterman Award for leadership on the football team. At the time, I didn't understand that I was actually leading my teammates. But they saw me as a leader.
"It was in that moment when I thought, you know what, maybe I should be a pastor," Slaton continued. "One of my friends Jason Pinkney said I was going to be A.D. Slaton, like T.D. Jakes. I took to that nickname."
Slaton was actually known as Trey during his time at Lehigh. But no matter if he's Trey, Antraveous or A.D., Slaton is using his leadership – and his voice – in a significant way.
"I have to stand in front of all these engineers at Warner Media and need to have integrity behind what I say," he said. "I'm humbled by touching millions of people, knowing I have to keep my integrity and knowing I have a unique skill."
You would never know, but Slaton considers himself an introvert.
"At that age (at Lehigh), I felt like I didn't have a voice, but now, I feel like I have a voice," he said. "That's a huge shift. I'm still introverted at heart, but I was very introverted. I would just take things as they came, but now I'm more proactive. I understand I have a voice."
Slaton is extremely grateful for his Lehigh experience, which featured not only plenty of tangible memories, but most importantly, intangible skills that continue to set him up for success to this day.
"I went 4-0 against Lafayette," he said. "That rings just as prominent for me as going to the playoffs. No one can take that away; we beat Lafayette four times. I picked up a fumble (in the 1998 Rivalry Game).
"That's there for me… it's real."
Also real was the challenging nature of being a student-athlete.
"Just going through Lehigh in general, it's tough," said Slaton. "I now feel like I can take on anything in this world. Things like four o'clock exams, all that prepared me. Lehigh really prepared me to take on some of the challenges this world has.
"And truthfully, the name Lehigh goes a long way," he continued. "When people know you went to Lehigh, they know you've been through something. It's rigorous. I started getting challenges, but my challenges at Lehigh were harder. 'I can take this on.'"
Slaton went out of his comfort zone to take on the challenge of going to college in the Mid-Atlantic.
"The culture was completely different," he said. "I intentionally left Georgia to go to Pennsylvania; I wanted to explore and leave. It was a culture shock initially, but I had my fellow teammates on the football team. Our first year, we weren't so good, but then we started winning. We won three Patriot League Championships, we went to the playoffs and won playoff games. We were very successful, so that made it even more enjoyable."
As someone who has experienced a little bit of everything, and someone who isn't in the field he studied at Lehigh, Slaton has this message for current student-athletes.
"Try new things," he said. "Don't give up; keep going through the fire. It's worth it in the end… trust me. What I studied at Lehigh is not actually what I'm doing today, but it applies. It's very relevant. What you're studying at Lehigh will be relevant to what you're going to be doing in the future.
"Take pride in that name Lehigh because it will serve you well after school."
Slaton has so much pride for Lehigh; he's currently in his first year on the Alumni Association Board of Directors.
"I was the first person to go to college in my family," he said. "College was a dream for people and I obtained it. It's an honor to be able to give back. I'm an advocate for Lehigh.
"Your time at Lehigh is a representation of you because it will follow you wherever you go."
The opposite is true as well. Slaton is an amazing representation of Lehigh (and Lehigh Athletics), epitomizing how the desire to learn and grow leads to a lifetime of leadership.
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