SAAC History

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee of St. Joseph’s University, NY – Brooklyn was founded in 2009. With little time to organize an event, the students who were interested took that time to create an executive board, write a constitution, and start planning events for the next school year. 

By the end of September 2010, the committee consisted of 30+ members. The first venture that SAAC took on was a community service project. St. Joseph’s University sponsors an annual “Get to the Point” 5K Run in Greenpoint, Brooklyn in the fall. The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee proudly attended as a part of their mission to contribute to the community. The proceeds of these events go directly back to support the youth of the Brooklyn community, specifically the St. Stan’s Athletic League, which provides quality athletic activities to over 300 children on an annual basis. Members of the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Teams, Women’s Volleyball Team, and the Executive Board all found a way to give a helping hand. Contributions ranged from registering participants, taking pictures of the runners and families attending, and helping facilitate the children’s dashes. 

The catastrophic earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 caught the attention of SAAC. In an effort to help, the committee took advantage of Alumni Night Doubleheader for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams in early February by hosting a bake sale to raise money. The Bears mascot, Clinton D. Bear, also did a good deed when he volunteered to walk around the school during the day and collect money from the students. The last project SAAC took on was fundraising for cancer awareness. Pins with cancer ribbons were handmade by the committee and sold at another major basketball game, which was the Men’s Basketball and Step Team senior night. The Student Athlete Advisory Committee inspired the Women’s Softball team to host a Cancer Awareness home game. The team wore pink shirts, decorated the field in pink and sold bracelets to raise money. With the game being so successful, it motivated SAAC to spend the next school year raising money for breast cancer.