Student-athletes can have a lot on their plate at one time. But many student-athletes find the time to help others and reach out to the community.

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is a group of a few student-athletes from each athletic team at Washburn. These student-athletes meet and organize different activities and events to do in the community of Topeka and at Washburn.

“It gives student-athlete a voice in the process, and allows them to have a say over what is happening,” said Jordan Shefte, president of SAAC. “We also get athletes involved in the community and raise awareness of our respective sports.”

SAAC participates in many athletic events at Washburn including “Pink Out” and “Think Pink” games that promote awareness for breast cancer and making goodie bags during finals week. There have also been two main events that SAAC has helped organized in past years.

One main event SAAC participates in is a Capper Foundation event, “Evening as a Child” where student-athletes volunteer. The second event, which is organized by SAAC, is a  Special Olympic event, “Fun Day with the Bods.” Throughout the event, Special

Olympic athletes meet in Lee Arena and play nine different sports with Washburn athletes and win prizes.

But this year, Shefte plans to implement another event, “Books with the Bods.”

“I am going to have a different sports team read to a local elementary school once a month. It will give the athletes a chance to interact with the community and will hopefully increase attendance at sporting events,” said Shefte.

The student-athletes that are members of the committee are not the only ones who are involved in the events. Members discuss and organize events during SAAC meetings and then relay that information to their team and a lot of players from each team volunteer at the events. Shefte believes SAAC is a very important organization to keep on the Washburn campus.

“It brings athletes from different sports together with a purpose. It allows the representatives to speak up for their teams, and allows the athletes to have a voice,” said Shefte. “Also, it gets the athletes involved in the community, and raises awareness of the sports that we compete in. It is an important group within the athletic community.”