Westminster SAAC Hosts National Student-Athlete Day Events

FULTON, Mo. - The Westminster College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) celebrated the April 6 National Student-Athlete Day with a series of events designed to promote the NCAA Division III student-athlete experience and publicize Westminster’s and the NCAA Division III partnership with Special Olympics.

The day’s activities began with a 7:30 a.m. student-athlete panel, which addressed a variety of issues of concern and challenges faced by Westminster student-athletes. Among the panelists were Sean Peterson, a junior men’s soccer player from Chesterfield, Missouri (Lafayette) and President of the Westminster and St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committees, and Courtney Luebbert, a junior women’s soccer player from Jefferson City, Mo. (Helias), who recently was selected for and attended the inaugural 2011 NCAA Sports and Entertainment Summit in Los Angeles, California.

Highlighting the day was a luncheon, hosted by the Westminster SAAC and members of the Westminster College Relations staff. The featured speaker was Diane Brimer, Director of Central Area Special Olympics, who spoke about the contributions college students make to the Special Olympics and the role Westminster student-athletes have played in the lives of Missouri Special Olympians. While the NCAA Division III SAAC has just partnered with Special Olympics as an ongoing project, the Westminster SAAC has been involved with Special Olympics for over three years. Westminster student-athletes have participated in the Polar Bear Plunge and have hosted a series of bowling and volleyball activities.

Originally the closing event of the day was a bar-b-que, to be held in conjunction with a Westminster baseball game. However, the rain which fell last week caused a change in the dates and locations of the SLIAC series games between Westminster and Fontbonne University. Not surprisingly, scheduling and time management were two challenges the student-athlete panelists talked about in the morning session.

Courtesy Westminster College (Mo.) sports information