Members of St. Joe’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee [SAAC] reminded the university community through a social media campaign earlier this month that athletes are more than what fans see during games.
The campaign was part of an NCAA initiative, the Diversity and Inclusion Social Media Campaign, designed to promote inclusion and diversity awareness on college campuses.
“I think one of the main goals is to portray the student athlete as more than just a jock, but someone who plays a bigger role and isn’t just a number on the field,” said junior Aaron Lemma, a member of SAAC and the St. Joe’s men’s track & field team.
Each day of the campaign, SAAC used its Twitter and Instagram accounts to post photos and videos of St. Joe’s athletes from different sports, genders, races and sexual orientations. Posts were tagged #NCAAInclusion and #A10Inclusion.
Junior Hayden Seig, a right-handed pitcher for the men’s baseball team, was featured in an Oct 2 post titled “Breaking Stereotypes.”
“I have made an effort to branch out significantly, desiring to unite multiple communities on campus,” Seig said in the post. “I have immersed myself in campus ministry in efforts to grow friendships that will last forever, as well as lead a club called Agape Christian Fellowship.”
Senior Isis Gill-Reid, vice president of SAAC and a member of the women’s tennis team, was also featured in the series. In her Oct. 2 post, Gill-Reid mentioned she is the publicist of the Black Student Union as well as a participant in other campus organizations.
“I would definitely say it was a success, especially for our first on–campus social media event,” said Gill-Reid, who helped organize SAAC’s participation in the campaign.
Lemma said the most important part of the campaign was showing fans that student athletes are more than athletes.
“The thing about student athletes throughout the country, athletics are what people look to when looking at a university,” Lemma said. “Athletics is a big part of our culture, so for SAAC and the student athletes to step out into the SJU community and say, ‘Yeah, we play sports, yeah, we lift, but we are part of this community too, and we want to make the community better just like you do.’”
Students like Giancarlo Musso ’21 said they appreciated seeing beyond the athletes’ most visible roles.
“The campaign definitely changed the way I saw some of the athletes,” Musso said. “I used to view the Division I athletes as just athletes and nothing more.”
Julia Watrous ’21 also said she enjoyed the posts.
“It was great to see the athletes in a different light and try to make a difference around campus,” Watrous said.
