MCLA STUDENT-ATHLETES MEET WITH COLLEGE PRESIDENT

NORTH ADAMS, MA - Fifteen members of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) sat down with College President Mary Grant recently to discuss various college athletics-related issues.

SAAC President Amey Blackburn (business/softball) shared with Grant numerous SAAC accomplishments, which included the restructuring of the campus SAAC, increasing meeting times, rebuilding SAAC bylaws and creating subcommittees for public relations and special events.

SAAC representative Senior Jason Mlodzianowski (history/soccer) shared his experiences from attending the 2007 NCAA Leadership Conference.  Following the conference, he initiated the creation of a campus SAAC Newsletter, which is distributed electronically on campus to faculty, staff and students, handed out during Admissions/Athletic Open House events, shared
internally within the history department and posted on the athletic website.

Andrew Gaines (business/baseball) shared action plans stemming from his experience at the October 2007 NCAA Regional Leadership Conference in Boston. Gaines, along with student Joanna Bodnar (interdisciplinary studies/tennis) and Kristin Parzych, MCLA head softball coach, will work on a project on the challenge of juggling missed class time when attending
athletics competitions.

Other topics discussed included those on the importance of positive media coverage, the portrayal of student-athletes in the media, current discussions on NCAA membership structures and its effects at the campus, as well as on conference and national levels. 

Rounding out the hour were comments on various community service projects completed by MCLA student-athletes, talk of establishing a mascot for the campus, sharing various ideas to position the student-athletes for success, and the creation of a campus Athletic Council comprised of faculty, students and staff. 

The breakfast meeting, which has been a semester tradition for the past two-and-a-half years, also was attended by SAAC Advisor Dot Houston and special guests Faculty Athletic Representative Dr. Tim Jay and Director of Athletics Scott Nichols.