A new Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Executive Board has been elected at Willamette University for the 2022-23 athletic year. Each year, the SAAC Executive Board features six student-athletes who lead the overall SAAC during meetings and oversee projects throughout the fall semester and the spring semester. Co-presidents of the Willamette University SAAC will be Catie Kawamura (Sr., ATT, San Diego, CA/San Diego International Studies) from the women's lacrosse team and Ryan Johns (Jr., OL, Las Vegas, NV/Liberty HS) from the football team.
The secretary will be Shelby Sawyer (Sr., GK, Marysville, WA/Bio Med Academy) from women's lacrosse. The communications director will be Ashley Collins (Jr., P, Chino Hills, CA/Chino Hills HS) from women's basketball, while the service and philanthropy leader will be Conor Mullany (So., DB, Albuquerque, NM/Albuqerque Academy) from football. Kendra Knapp (Sr., OF, Portland, OR/Sunset HS) from the softball team will be an at-large member of the Executive Board.
Note: Year listed for each Executive Board member is their academic year at the start of the 2022 Fall Semester.
Willamette SAAC Executive Board Develops Plans for 2022-23
Kawamura and Johns are looking forward to leading the Willamette SAAC over the next 12 months.
"It means a lot to me to be selected by other student athletes on campus to lead the board that represents them," Kawamura commented. "I am very excited to get to work and help to improve the student athlete experience here on campus. One of my priorities this year is defiantly connecting with other student led organizations on campus to bring our events to the entire student body. I also want to plan more events to bring together all our student athletes on campus.
"One point of the SAAC board is to be the student-athlete voice in the athletic department. I am honored to be entrusted to be a leader of that voice. I am lucky that I also get to be the President of the Northwest Conference's SAAC board as well," Johns said. "A priority of ours for this coming academic year is to help create a fun and engaging environment for attending games, playing in games, and all-around being a Bearcat student-athlete. Another priority is to create a space where student-athletes can dedicate time to community service and truly live our institution's motto: Not unto ourselves alone are we born."
The other SAAC Executive Board members also are glad to be involved in the planning process. They also appreciate having the opportunity to represent their teams while providing leadership within the SAAC.
"To me serving as the secretary on SAAC means a lot. I love being apart of such an amazing group, and with this position I feel like I can give back to athletics what it's given to me the past few years," Sawyer noted. "This position has given me the ability to make a difference in our athletes' experience at Willamette."
"While I served as a SAAC representative for the women's basketball team for the first two years I wanted to be able to implement new and important programs ... especially in trying to promote all of our sports team's equally," Collins recalled.
Enthusiasm and Commitment for the Student-Athlete Experience
Each member of the Executive Board is very interested in their specific assignment. They bring enthusiasm and commitment to the planning process.
"Service and philanthropy means a lot to me, as I feel it will really help me connect our student-athletes with high school and middle school athletes here in the Salem area," Mullany said.
As the at-large representative, Knapp commented that "to me it means representing students in a more broad range within SAAC. Instead of being in charge of one specific duty, I can take the at-large position in many ways and as broad as I want. I am excited for that reason."
Willamette's SAAC serves to enhance and improve the student-athlete experience and to be a liaison between Bearcat athletes and the Athletic Department administration and coaching staff. Plans for the 2022-23 academic year relate to those key objectives.
"I am looking forward to hopefully implementing some new programs within SAAC and the athletic community here at Willamette that will foster a greater sense of community among all the athletes and hopefully even within the surrounding Willamette/Salem community," Collins noted. "I also want to get a greater sense of promotion out surrounding all the athletic events that will be taking place to get more fans to games."
"I feel like our Executive Board this year is full of motivated, fun, nice, and overall amazing people," Knapp noted. "I am excited to just work with everyone. You can tell we are all inspired to really make a difference on campus. I am also excited to incorporate some ideas my friends and I have for campus activities."
Sawyer commented that she was "excited to work with coaches, faculty and students to improve our school experience with athletics. My biggest goal this year is to listen, to hear what other members of our school want to see or change, and figure out a way to incorporate their ideas."
"I want to help connect student-athletes around campus with each other, as well as around town," Mullany said. "While still recovering from a pandemic it is good for us all to get reconnected!
Student-Athletes Should Consider Attending SAAC Meetings
Many student-athletes and other students at Willamette may not be very familiar with the SAAC. Members of the Executive Board explained some of the significant facts and interesting aspects of Willamette's SAAC.
"I think that one thing everybody should know about SAAC is that we are committed to improving the student-athlete experience on campus and that every event is there for them to take advantage of," Kawamura said.
"The SAAC board is really excited to make a positive impact on student life on campus, and we are all willing to connect with any interested in expressing ideas or thoughts!" Mullany stated.
Johns added that "One thing every student-athlete should know about SAAC is that we are here to serve you. Any idea or concern you have, we are here to listen. Our SAAC meetings during the school year are open. Anyone can join in the meetings and join in the discussions."
As a Willamette SAAC co-president and the Northwest Conference SAAC president for 2022-23, Johns can gather in information from a variety of on-campus and off-campus sources to help both SAAC organizations succeed.
"Serving on both boards will allow me to not only serve the student-athletes of the Willamette Bearcat community but to serve all of our student-athletes across the conference as well," Johns said.
Feedback from Student-Athletes is Important
Hearing about key issues and receiving ideas from other Willamette student-athletes is important to the Willamette SAAC Executive Board members.
"SAAC runs off of feedback and ideas from students and coaches," Sawyer commented. "The only way we can help make the changes you want to see in our program is by you telling us what it is you want to see. With more voices come more diverse ideas which can only improve our program and insure everyone's opinions are heard."
"I didn't start participating in SAAC until last year because I felt it was too official," Knapp said. "But I was wrong! When I went to my first meeting I realized it's a more casual conversation about a variety of things on campus and every opinion is valuable. Even if your team already has its representatives you can still go to meetings and give your input. Also, I would love to focus on student engagement on campus, for non-athletes and athletes."
"SAAC is an amazing program that really allows for athletes on whatever team to step up and build on their leadership skills even if they are not necessarily the go-to leaders on their team," Collins asserted. "I would definitely recommend any athlete who wants to get involved in improving the overall athletics experience at Willamette to talk to their coaches about being their SAAC representative. It is an amazing way to get to meet other athletes that are not on your team and allows the possibility to form relationships and connections."
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