Houston SAAC Wins National Honor
Houston SAAC president Clark Mitzner

Houston SAAC president Clark Mitzner

Nov. 4, 2009

HOUSTON - The University of Houston recently was one of two schools to receive the Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Award of Excellence.

The Cougars were recognized for reviving a SAAC program that had been largely inactive. Under a new director of athletics, who placed a premium on student-athlete leadership, the Houston SAAC began regular meetings, launched a web site and signed up for five community service events during the fall semester.

These events included a diabetes walk, the Houston Marathon kids kickoff, a literacy event, a holiday party and a holiday shoe drive for the Star of Hope Mission.

The Houston SAAC, under the leadership of president Clark Mitzner (junior, golf), vice president Ashley Bryant (senior, women's track and field) secretary Alex Bentley (senior, men's track and field) also instituted a new initiative designed to encourage student-athletes to attend each others' events and sponsors regular leadership talks with head coaches and administrators.

The Houston SAAC began goal-setting, brainstorming ideas to improve the campus community and student-athlete well-being.

"We have a very inspiring group of young leaders who want to succeed in the classroom, give back to their community and improve the experience of student-athletes and the entire University of Houston community," associate athletics director for student-athlete services Maria Peden said.

Peden credited Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades with making a strong SAAC a priority, meeting regularly with SAAC leadership to identify goals and developing plans to meet them.

"His leadership and support of our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee inspired and energized our representatives this fall to start meeting every other week, to push themselves to reach out to the community and to their fellow student-athletes in terms of support and to come up with a slate of goals that can enhance their academic and athletics progress," Peden said. "The result has been a rapid increase in attendance at various life skills, a renewed energy and initiative in community service and a real spirit of community among our student-athletes."

Houston shared the honor with the University of Minnesota.

A feature on the award and the recipients has been posted at NCAA.org, the NCAA Double A zone and the National SAAC Blog/newsletter at NationalSAAC.blogspot.com.

The mission of the NCAA Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete well-being and fostering a positive student-athlete image.

The award is meant to showcase the many positive accomplishments of SAACs across the country and also spread awareness of the National SAAC and its position in the NCAA governance structure

The selection for the award was based on progress and growth of campus SAAC, community service/outreach, sportsmanship initiatives, teamwork, originality and leadership.

Selection was based on any single category or a combination of multiple categories. The selection committee is comprised entirely of NCAA Division I National SAAC members.

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