CAA SAAC Has Successful Leadership Summit
Donna Jones
RICHMOND, Va. (November 5, 2015) - Drexel University served as the host of the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Leadership Summit on November 1 & 2. The CAA SAAC is comprised of one female representative and one male representative from each of the CAA’s 10 member institutions, assembled to be the voice of their campus SAAC and provide insight on the student-athlete experience.
The Summit began Sunday in the Sky View Room on the campus of Drexel University with a warm welcome from Drexel Senior Associate Athletic Director/SWA, Laura White. The next portion of the Summit included an icebreaker and presentation from Lisa Markland and Marion Mason with the Northeastern University Center for the Study of Sport in Society’s Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program. MVP motivates men and women to work together in preventing men’s violence against women and other forms of relationship violence. Markland and Mason utilized interactive discussion using real-life scenarios that speak to the experiences of men and women in various pockets of their social lives. By focusing on bystander behavior, MVP reduces the defensiveness and hopelessness that people often feel when discussing gender-based violence. Markland mentioned, “There are options, prepare for those so in the future you have options in mind.” Markland and Mason stressed to the group that Bystanders have power, even if it may not be direct intervention. The presenters stressed to the group to serve in the role you would want someone to serve if your loved one was involved.
Following the MVP Presentation, the group was joined by NCAA Associate Director of Leadership, Justin Paysinger. Paysinger conducted a DiSC workshop with the student-athletes and SAAC advisors. Paysinger began the presentation with having the participants determine their core values. Paysinger mentioned, “Successful people understand themselves, and how their behavior affects others.” The DiSC assessment tests personality by calculating your personal DiSC profile based on your everyday typical behavior. The DiSC profile utilizes a method for understanding behavior and personality. This assessment allowed student-athletes and advisors to learn why some individuals behave the way they do. It also provided them with information about themselves and how certain personal traits affect their interactions with peers, teammates, family, and more. Paysinger mentioned, “You can develop productive interactions by adapting to others.”
Following dinner, the student-athletes and advisors met separately to begin discussing Hot Topics. The student-athletes discussed various topics such as school spirit and team support within the athletic department, integrating student-athletes with the general student body, mental health for student-athletes, the “You Can Play” Initiative, and priority registration for classes.
On Monday, the student-athletes met with CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager to discuss various Hot Topics including student-athlete welfare, cost-of-attendance, conference championships, NCAA Time Demands Proposals, and Title IX and how it affects men’s sports. During the afternoon Administrative meeting, Hofstra University’s Syndi Epps, the CAA representative on the national SAAC and women’s basketball student-athlete, discussed with the group about the national SAAC efforts and issues. She encouraged the group to share with her any ideas/questions that they would like for her to take to the national level because she serves as a voice for all CAA student-athletes. The campus SAAC Advisors also discussed their Hot Topics, including leadership programming ideas, mobile applications for community service, the CAA Blood Challenge and CAA Food Drive Challenge, and best practices for being an effective SAAC Advisor.
The student-athletes and advisors also discussed the One Love Foundation / Yards 4 Yeardley Challenge. Each institution is going to look into conducting Escalation Workshops on their campuses, which is a program conducted by the One Love Foundation. During lunch, the CAA SAAC Leadership Summit had the opportunity to hear words of wisdom from Philadelphia Eagles President, Don Smolenski. The group was also able to enjoy lunch with Drexel Athletic Director, Dr. Eric Zillmer. The 2015 CAA SAAC Leadership Summit concluded with a special presentation by the student-athletes to CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager to thank him for everything that he has done for the CAA over the past 31 years. He was presented with cards and posters signed by members of every current CAA team from all member institutions.
As the Summit came to a close, the participants were excited about what they had learned and the new friends they had made. They planned to return to campus and share the ideas with their fellow student-athletes. The CAA appreciates the time and effort that Rachel Creighton and the rest of the Drexel University staff put into hosting the 2015 CAA SAAC Leadership Summit!
SAAC LEADERSHIP SUMMIT STUDENT-ATHLETE PARTICIPANTS
Claire Newman, College of Charleston—Women’s Soccer
Alex Pastorius , College of Charleston—Baseball
Elyse Andrews, Delaware—Women’s Lacrosse
Calvin Scott, Delaware -- Baseball
Rory McPhillips, Drexel-- Women’s Diving
Sean Swartz, Drexel -- Men’s Swimming and Diving
Bryanna Hames, Elon--Women’s Track and Field
Neal Port, Elon—Men’s Tennis
Sydni Epps, Hofstra--Women’s Basketball (CAA National SAAC Rep)
Alan Hetherington, Hofstra--Men’s Cross Country
Anne Zabel, James Madison--Women’s Lacrosse
Aaron Hoover, James Madison--Baseball
Jaime Mangold, UNCW--Women’s Track and Field
Zack Canada, UNCW-- Baseball
Jackie Garruto, Northeastern --Women’s Rowing
Isaac Lippert, Northeastern--Baseball
Vicki Vesecky, Towson--Gymnastics
John Hulede, Towson --Men’s Golf
Brooke Stewart, William & Mary--Women’s Basketball
Derek Trott, William & Mary -- Men’s Track and Field
SAAC LEADERSHIP SUMMIT CAMPUS SAAC ADVISOR PARTICIPANTS
Kate Tiller -- College of Charleston
Jennifer Judy-- Delaware
Rachel Creighton -- Drexel
Faith Shearer-- Elon
James Lally-- Hofstra
Brad Burgess-- James Madison
Shauna Baker-Karl --UNCW
Justin Bell--Northeastern
Kelly Webb --Towson
Deidre Connelly-- William & Mary
CAA Staff
Tom Yeager, Commissioner
Kathleen Batterson, Senior Associate Commissioner/SWA
Donna Jones, Director of Student-Athlete Services