Empire 8 Completes Successful Student-Athlete Summit
January 31, 2007
ROCHESTER, NY – Conference member schools gathered this past Friday and Saturday for the initial Empire 8 Student-Athlete Summit in Rochester. The event, which featured guest speakers Laurie Priest and Gary Williams, brought together representatives from each institution to develop an action plan to bring back to their respective campuses.
“It was great to hear other school’s ideas on how they are handling, or plan to handle, issues on their own campus,” said Julie Duffy, Empire 8 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee President and women’s lacrosse player at Hartwick College.
Priest, who has served as Chair of Physical Education and Director of Athletics at Mount Holyoke College since 1989, spoke on the summit’s first night about diversity and homophobia in college athletics. A frequent presenter at conferences and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletics Administrators (NACWAA) Division III Woman of the Year in 2002, Priest facilitated a discussion group with student-athletes on Saturday.
Williams, who is the Associate Director of Academic Advising and Director of Student-Athlete Services at Carthage College, presented and led a discussion about social networking and online etiquette on Saturday. Williams serves on the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Advisory Team, while also advising Carthage’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and coordinating the CHAMPS/Life Skills program on the campus.
School representatives at the summit included members of SAAC, CHAMPS/Life Skills, and Student Athlete Mentor programs. An advisor from one of those programs at each institution accompanied the students.
The student-athletes from each school determined topics that are particularly relevant to their campus and will develop a plan to improve an existing program or educate others about a new program. Each institution’s plan will be implemented over the next year with the results of the program to be presented at a similar event next January.
“The summit was an outstanding event,” said Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano. “The student-athletes were buzzing with enthusiasm and will now implement their action plan on campus. They are committed and anxious to make a difference in their community. We are all looking forward to next year’s Empire 8 Student-Athlete Summit.”
The event is part of the NCAA Strategic Initiatives Grant Program focusing on Social Responsibility and Integration. The grant program deals with student-athlete well-being, sportsmanship, and diversity and gender equity.