Goucher's Rep Eager to Share Ideas with Enemies
TOWSON, Md. — Even though conspiring with the enemy is frowned upon in most circles, Lexi Rudolph freely admits that she will do just that in her new role as one of Goucher’s representatives to the Landmark Conference SAAC in 2014-15.
TOWSON, Md. — Even though conspiring with the
enemy is frowned upon in most circles, Lexi
Rudolph (Kensington, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel)
freely admits that she will do just that in her new role as one of
Goucher’s representatives to the Landmark Conference SAAC in
2014-15.
SAAC, which stands for Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, is a
group made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on
the student-athlete experience. Since 1995, the NCAA has mandated
that each and every one of its Division III member institutions has
a SAAC on its campus.
“I see the primary function of a SAAC to be facilitating and
organizing community building events and fostering a positive
environment for student-athletes to grow as individuals outside
their respective teams,” said Rudolph, a rising junior who
has earned two letters as a member of Goucher’s women’s
soccer team. “SAAC is designed to expand the role of
student-athletes on their campus through community service and
integrate them into the greater community.”
NCAA legislation further requires that all Division III
conferences administer a SAAC to provide student-athletes the
opportunity to take an active role in the governance and
legislation of the conference. The Landmark Conference SAAC is
composed of two student-athletes from each member institution.
“Although I’m new in terms of being one of
Goucher’s representatives, I’ve been told that when we
get together each representative has the opportunity to discuss
what his or her SAAC is doing,” Rudolph said. “Ideas
are shared about how to make the SAACs back on our campuses more
effective and more involved, and how to improve the role athletes
play within their school community.”
So at one meeting Rudolph may advance an idea that the Goucher
SAAC used successfully that allowed the institution’s
student-athletes to perform a community service such as hosting a
blood drive on campus or organizing a fundraiser for Special
Olympics. Perhaps at that same meeting or possibly the next one,
she will return to Goucher with a plan a SAAC from one of the other
Landmark schools came up with to institute a “Campus
Clean-Up” day or honor local military families by designing
special clinics.
“My role as a representative is to discuss what
Goucher’s SAAC is doing, which will perhaps benefit the other
schools (in the Landmark Conference),” commented Rudolph.
“Plus it’s also to listen to what the other
representatives have to say and bring back their ideas that could
be successful on our campus. Landmark’s SAAC can help by
providing advice for potential events and describing past successes
and failures of similar events.”
Rudolph believes Goucher’s SAAC will have an ambitious
agenda in 2014-15 and she wouldn’t hesitate for a second to
solicit some help from student-athletes from the other schools in
the Landmark Conference, some of the same ones the Gophers will
battle on the soccer pitches, the basketball, volleyball and tennis
courts, the field hockey and lacrosse fields, the swimming pools,
the cross country trails and the indoor and outdoor track and field
facilities.
“One thing I’m trying to put in motion for the
upcoming year is a dodgeball tournament to raise money for a
scholarship fund in memory of Matt Gabriel,” she explained.
“I think there’s a lot of support for having another
play day in the spring and well as other community service events
throughout the year. We’ll talk about a number of things
aimed at fostering a closer relationship between athletics teams
and building a greater support system among the athletes.
“I’m hoping my involvement in Landmark SAAC is
beneficial, both for Goucher and the other schools in the
conference. From the facilitation of ideas and discussions that
take place when we meet, Landmark athletes who compete against one
another all year will still be able to build closer relationships
off the field.”