Temple University Athletics
Rising to the Moment: Temple SAAC Alters Operations to Maintain Purpose
8.31.20 | General
In the year 2020, the student-athlete voice is stronger than ever. Student-Athletes can see the action that their role models in professional athletics are taking daily through their respective Players Associations.
This has led to the student-athletes pondering the best way they can put their voice, to action. The President of the Temple University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Matt Kristick said "One thing I always hear is that we, as college athletes, need a players association, and I say, we do, it's called SAAC."
Following its NCAA wide establishment in 1989, SAAC has been a platform in which many engaged student-athletes use their voice to enable and advocate for student-athlete well-being. However, department-wide engagement has not been a sure thing until now. "Athletes have begun to use their voice more than ever, and that has led to a greater interest in SAAC," said Kristick.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, SAAC has had to drastically change how they operate. "We had our first meeting last week, and I told the body, that we have a roadmap every year of what it will look like, but this year there is less clarity, so we will have our general principles of engagement be the goal," said Kristick.
The change to a virtual setting will be a difficult adjustment explained Vice President Jackie Terpack, "We will be challenged to figure out effective ways to bring the student-athlete community together online, but we are excited for the challenge."
In a difficult time, SAAC can also serve as a platform for coming together, "We want to bring the community together and improve in as many ways as we can" explained Terpak.
Community service has always been a key pillar of SAAC, and that will continue even during lockdown. The first event that the executive board has outlined is a virtual Social Justice 5K Run. While the run portion will have to be done as individuals, group fundraising and identification of organizations for contributions will be a SAAC-wide decision.
In addition to overall greater engagement, SAAC has a new structural change that will lead to increased engagement and productivity. The body has always been led by the executive board, however, opportunities for general body engagement were sometimes disorganized. This year, the executive board in partnership with the athletics staff representative Olivia Wynn, have implemented a committee structure.
Each committee is run by a chair, Golf's Aaron Tobin (Finance), Lacrosse's Courtney Taylor (Community Service), and Women's Soccer's Hailey Gutowski (Social Media) and Marissa DiGenova (Owl Cup). The members of each committee member will be able to engage in specific conversations to enhance the overall body's goals.
On top of standard operations, SAAC is accepting the call of the moment and offering guidance, insights, and partnership to a new student organization, Owls for Justice. SAAC Executive Board Member and Co-Founder of Owls for Justice, Manny Ikeocha explained, "SAAC has a larger and more established platform, so we (Owls for Justice) can gather their insights and best practices to amplify what we need to do."
Through all the volatility of the year 2020, SAAC will continue to serve many of the more grassroots purposes that it has for years. Men's cross country junior and general body member, Sean Egan added "my goal as the men's cross country rep is to provide an avenue of communication for my teammates about what is happening within Temple Athletics, the American Athletic Conference, and the NCAA."
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This has led to the student-athletes pondering the best way they can put their voice, to action. The President of the Temple University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), Matt Kristick said "One thing I always hear is that we, as college athletes, need a players association, and I say, we do, it's called SAAC."
Following its NCAA wide establishment in 1989, SAAC has been a platform in which many engaged student-athletes use their voice to enable and advocate for student-athlete well-being. However, department-wide engagement has not been a sure thing until now. "Athletes have begun to use their voice more than ever, and that has led to a greater interest in SAAC," said Kristick.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 global health pandemic, SAAC has had to drastically change how they operate. "We had our first meeting last week, and I told the body, that we have a roadmap every year of what it will look like, but this year there is less clarity, so we will have our general principles of engagement be the goal," said Kristick.
The change to a virtual setting will be a difficult adjustment explained Vice President Jackie Terpack, "We will be challenged to figure out effective ways to bring the student-athlete community together online, but we are excited for the challenge."
In a difficult time, SAAC can also serve as a platform for coming together, "We want to bring the community together and improve in as many ways as we can" explained Terpak.
Community service has always been a key pillar of SAAC, and that will continue even during lockdown. The first event that the executive board has outlined is a virtual Social Justice 5K Run. While the run portion will have to be done as individuals, group fundraising and identification of organizations for contributions will be a SAAC-wide decision.
In addition to overall greater engagement, SAAC has a new structural change that will lead to increased engagement and productivity. The body has always been led by the executive board, however, opportunities for general body engagement were sometimes disorganized. This year, the executive board in partnership with the athletics staff representative Olivia Wynn, have implemented a committee structure.
Each committee is run by a chair, Golf's Aaron Tobin (Finance), Lacrosse's Courtney Taylor (Community Service), and Women's Soccer's Hailey Gutowski (Social Media) and Marissa DiGenova (Owl Cup). The members of each committee member will be able to engage in specific conversations to enhance the overall body's goals.
On top of standard operations, SAAC is accepting the call of the moment and offering guidance, insights, and partnership to a new student organization, Owls for Justice. SAAC Executive Board Member and Co-Founder of Owls for Justice, Manny Ikeocha explained, "SAAC has a larger and more established platform, so we (Owls for Justice) can gather their insights and best practices to amplify what we need to do."
Through all the volatility of the year 2020, SAAC will continue to serve many of the more grassroots purposes that it has for years. Men's cross country junior and general body member, Sean Egan added "my goal as the men's cross country rep is to provide an avenue of communication for my teammates about what is happening within Temple Athletics, the American Athletic Conference, and the NCAA."
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