TOWSON, Md. – Community service continues to be a vital part of the vision and goal of Towson University athletics.  For the 2019-20 season, Towson was third in the country in the NCAA Teamworks Helper Helper Competition this year with over 7,500 hours of community service.
 
Towson was well on its way to having its eighth consecutive year of over 10,000 community services hours before the campus shutdown in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.  As a department, Towson student-athletes, coaches and staff worked 7,527 hours of community service in the Greater Baltimore region.
 
"With community engagement as one of our core values, we are always extremely proud of the commitment and efforts of our student-athletes, coaches and staff to make positive and impactful outreach contributions both on campus and in the Greater Baltimore community," said Antwaine Smith, senior assistant athletic director and director of the Total Tiger Program. "These contributions are even more valuable and important to continue during these uncertain times."
 
Towson has worked with several on-campus partners to give back to the community, including the Black Student Union, Civic Engagement, Greek Life, the Hussman Center (Autism Awareness + Clinics), The Black Alumni Association (TBAA), TUNE, Ujima, Veteran Affairs and many more.  The eight specified on-campus partners accounted for 44% of the community service hours accumulated, over 3,300 hours of Towson's 7,500+ total.
 
Also, Towson assisted with service for 18 community organizations throughout the area.
 
Towson's 19 sports strive to be a leader in campus & community engagement, one of the department's strategic themes.  The department considers giving back to the Greater Baltimore community one of its most important goals.
 
In fall 2018, Towson University athletics earned the national championship for community service having finished first in the country in community service hours as a department.
 
Several Towson programs finished in the top ten among its same-sport counterparts across the country.
--DI Women's Basketball: 2^nd
--DI Men's Golf: 2^nd
--DI Women's Gymnastics: 3^rd
--DI Men's Basketball: 5^th
--DI Women's Soccer: 5^th
--DI Field Hockey: 6^th
--DI Men's Lacrosse: 9^th
 
In addition, each of Towson's basketball teams ranked in the top-40 among all sports programs nationally across all divisions in community service from Jan. 1^st to March 16^th, per Helper Helper:
--Towson Women's Basketball: 21^st
--Towson Men's Basketball: 38^th