March 29, 2012

Release courtesy of Transylvania University

LEXINGTON, KY – Transylvania's Student Athlete Advisory Committee has taken a lead role among Heartland Conference institutions  in terms of raising money for charity.

It has been over a month since 15 Transy student-athletes participated in the annual Polar Bear Plunge, a major fundraising event for Special Olympics. The group had nearly $3,000 in pledges in hand at that time, but over the past month, money continued to roll in with Transy's final contribution standing at $4,316, according the James Dawson, who is co-president of Transy's SAAC and president of the HCAC group.

“Transy's SAAC has definitely taken the lead among conference members ,” said Dr. Dan Fulks, who serves as Transy's Faculty Athletics Representative. “The funds raised this year at the Plunge far exceed anything our conference colleagues have managed to accomplish and will likely rank high among all NCAA institutions.”

Special Olympics was adopted as the official philanthropy for the NCAA Division III's Student Athlete Advisory Committee at the 2011 annual NCAA convention. Transy student-athletes have participated in a number of events since then, including a bowling event at Southland Lanes last fall.

“Special Olympics is a natural fit for student-athletes to support,” said Fulks.

Members of SAAC met several times with the state officed of Special Olympics of Kentucky to determine the best was to assist.

Dawson said the Transy SAAC executive council brainstormed a number of ideas and decided to challenge each of the school's varsity teams to see which could raise the most money. With this year's success, Dawson, a senior from Bardstown, expects the event to continue on an annual basis.

“The response was remarkable,” said Dawson. “We raised $4,316 in just over one month. That far exceeded our expectations for the first year of the challenge. The best part is there is plenty of room for improvement next year. I am excited about the fact that this might turn into something really special.”

Added Fulks, “we plan to build on this year's success. The interaction of college athletes with Special Olympians is an incredible experience four our student-athletes. The contributions go far beyond just raising money.”