The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) was created to ensure that all student athletes on campus would have their voices heard.  In SAAC, each graduating class has representatives from sports teams on campus. 

Junior men’s volleyball player Jacob Durren said that SAAC was created because “we wanted to make sure that our student athletes had a voice on campus and that they could be a part of important decisions. We also wanted to help EMU and the community by organizing our athletes and coming up with different service projects.” 

With technology being the biggest way people communicate in this world and social media being a big part of that, SAAC makes sure they are very active on social media, and they try to involve others and keep them updated on what SAAC is doing on campus. 

A big thing that they do on Instagram is called Teammate Tuesdays. On Teammate Tuesdays, SAAC posts a picture of an EMU athletic team, and students can see a bunch of players and teams also participating during the week by posting pictures and stories. 

Another way they’ve been engaging on social media during this pandemic is the Mask On Challenge, where different teams on campus challenge other teams to wear masks for safe social distancing. 

“It has definitely brought us together because we all have to work towards finding a way that we can still help the community while also protecting ourselves. We all know that what we are going through is hard, and so, we feel closer because of what we have to struggle with,” said Durren. 

SAAC offers athletes like senior baseball player Jaylon Lee a way to get more out of EMU sports. “I’m looking to build upon the voice of athletes here at EMU and using my voice to help athletes realize that we have a voice too,” said Lee. 

For sophomore women’s volleyball player Delanie Miller, joining SAAC was a beneficial way to get involved more with athletics. “Bri Miller, who was already a member of SAAC, asked me if I was interested in joining, and I thought about it, and I thought that this would be a good way for me to get more involved in athletics and have an input on things,” said Miller. 

EMU and their SAAC representatives are looking forward to continuing to show their voice for the athletes all over campus.