UMW Student Athlete Advisory Council

MINUTES FROM SAAC MEETING  10/2/2012

SAAC Minutes from Oct 2, 2012

In Attendance:

Corinne Wiederkehr – WLAX              Jenna Petrucelli – WLAX         Michelle Sutherland – WT&F

Megan Gersbeck – WLAX                   Zach Fichter – MXC                 Paige Kelly – WT&F

Caitlin Baker – FHKY                           Rachel Cote – WXC                 Brooke Thompson – WT&F

Taylor Johnson – MBSK                       Ben Tuxbury – MT&F              Vance Solseth - MSWM

Marcellus Holley – MBSK                    Tyler Stewart – MLAX              Emily Dunn - RID

Meredith Thompson – WSWM            Sam Hensle – MLAX                Brie Matthes - WBSK

Clara An Coward – WROW                 Ashton Ferneyhough – SB       Anne Blaine - SB

Shelby Harris – WTEN                         Nate Saint-Preux – MT&F       Chrissy Gaul – WTEN

Meredith Claire Haeuptle-WBSK        Mo Sunderland – WLAX          Kathleen Wallace – RID

Agenda:

1-      Coach Tyler would like to meet with the officers of SAAC – please meet with Coach Hall after the meeting to discuss an available time.  Decision – any week night except Tuesday evenings.  The week of Oct 8-11^th would be best for all members present.

2-      Homecoming Events for the week of October 15-21^st . 

a)       Pep Rally – Thursday Oct 18^th Bonfire

b)      Hall of Fame Banquet – Fri Oct 19^th

c)      All fall teams home this weekend

3-      Breast Cancer Awareness Month – October – The SAAC would like to recognize Breast Cancer Month at all homecoming games on Saturday, Oct 20^th.  We will have a donation box at all games with the donations collected to go toward a recognized organization – Susan B. Komen, Avon Breast Cancer, Locks of Love, etc to be determined by the Athletic Dept.  Two SAAC reps will be at each venue to collect donations.

4-      Tutoring Program update.  There is a list of volunteer tutors posted on the SAAC website.  Please spread the word within your teams if you have teammates interested in volunteering to be a tutor.  The e-mail addresses are posted for each of the volunteers.  Any student athlete can contact a tutor for help.  Coach Hall is attaching the form again.  All completed forms should be sent to Greg Lesnewich at glesnewi@mail.umw.edu .

5-      The CAC SAAC fall meeting is scheduled for Sat Oct 20^th (homecoming weekend)  Coach Hall asked for volunteers but there were no takers.  Caitlin Baker told Commissioner Byrnes that that was our Homecoming.  Our SA also expressed concern they would rather have a Sun meeting date vs a Sat meeting date.

6-      The canned food drive will take place Nov. 2-12^th Boxes for each team will be placed on the second floor of Goolrick.  The weigh-in will take place at 9am on Monday Nov. 12^th.

7-      Discussion took place regarding the Alcohol issues that have arisen on/off campus this fall.  Discussion points are bulleted below:

• There is an overall feeling from the students that the City Police are targeting college students.  Examples given include:
• 1- Police are sitting outside of off-campus houses that are known to be renting to college students.
• 2- Police are riding thru neighborhoods on bicycles on Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings and picking on students if they are outside their houses.
• 3- If a couple students are walking back to campus from an off campus house – police are stopping them and making them take breathalyzer tests – even when they say they haven’t been drinking.
• 4-Students express their feeling of being scared to walk because of the fear of being harassed by police when they haven’t done anything to attract attention.
• 5- Students who have volunteered to be DD (designated drivers) have been pulled over if driving a car and been harassed by police and the people in the car have also been arrested (either for underage possession in their bodies or underage drinking) because they have told the truth.
• 6- It is noted that the UMW College Police are not the ones arresting, but the City Police are.
• 7- Students have been told by City Police that their houses are on a “city list of rented houses to watch” even though they just moved in this past summer.  Police have told them that the “House has been warned” and if they have a group of people over they will be watching them.
• 8- A student athlete said he was harassed by a police officer on his own front porch and was forced to take a test even when he had not been drinking.  He is also 21.
• 9- Another student athlete said she & her roommate were sitting on their front porch at 6pm and had an iphone playing music and two police cars pulled up and said they had been reported for loud noise and wanted to know if a party was going on inside?

Coach Hall asked the group what ideas could we come up with to enhance community relations.

Suggestions included:

1-      Taking care of the yards so that they look nice

2-      Put the recycling bins out of sight so that it doesn’t look trashy all the time.

3-      Be responsible if you are a host for a group of people at your house and don’t let the party get out of hand.

4-      Introduce yourself to the neighbors on your street and ask them to call you if they are bothered or become upset instead of calling the police first.

5-      Letting your neighbors know beforehand if you are having a group of people over.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov 6^th (Election Day)