TOWSON, Md. – Last Thursday, three Towson University student-athletes participated in the annual Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Leadership Summit. Andrew Beacham, Abby Webster and LaKaitlin Wright from Towson's SAAC Executive Board represented TU in the gathering of student-athletes from all 10 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) members.
 
"I think circumstantially it was very well put together," Webster said. "We had a Zoom call that was just a little bit over two hours long. Normally it's a three-day conference so we would get up, have breakfast and go to meetings and then after lunch there would be an activity planned for us."
 
Although things changed this year and the summit was held virtually, the participants still made the most of their time.
 
According to Webster, the summit typically consists of meetings where those present discuss and work through issues they are facing in their student-athlete community or in the conference as a whole.
 
Usually advice is shared among the SAAC representatives from each university about an array of topics and they discuss ways to achieve their goals for the upcoming school year.
 
"Last summer when Drew (Laundry) and I went, we were able to get ideas to create the Tiger Cup and the app so that student-athletes could get rewarded for going to other games, doing well in school and participating in the community," she said. "Things were cut short, obviously."
 
This was the first time LaKaitlin Wright had attended the conference SAAC Leadership Summit and she said the event was not only enjoyable, but that she learned so much about athletic departments and what she and her fellow student-athletes can do in their own SAAC organization.
 
"I really took away that we aren't alone in our struggles as student-athletes; I think it's just me and university only go through these things, but there are similarities between everyone in the conference," Wright said. "And I think we found as a whole we could solve a lot more problems than individually as one school."
 
Wright was a SAAC representative previously at Mercer and spent this past school year involved in Towson's committee before running for executive board.
 
With everyone together representing the CAA, Webster explained the group created a PSA video last summer about antibullying. This year the group came together again to create more.
 
"This year was just one meeting so far but it's going to be in increments, we are having another meeting in July," Webster said. "At the end of this meeting we created a PSA about voting awareness and for the Black Lives Matter movement, so that was really cool."
 
The discussion of racial injustices and voting was a major theme, as Wright expressed her appreciation for CAA Commissioner Joe D'Antonio and his efforts on both subjects.
 
Along with the PSA about voting and the upcoming elections in November, the group talked together about working to secure Nov. 3 as a day off for student-athletes to have time to vote.
 
"Voting, that was a big thing, we talked about working on having November 3^rd as a 'dead day' and the official NCAA rep for our conference was on the call too, she was being an advocate for that," Wright said.
 
"Tricia Brandenburg had mentioned it, about student-athletes from each team representing their team in a voters awareness committee, to help get their teammates registered to vote and education on voting," Webster said. "Education is key because if you don't know, you don't know to do better so I think that was really cool, the CAA is really standing behind us."
 
Opening the floor to talk about the current climate in the United States regarding racism and discrimination, members at the CAA SAAC Leadership Summit participated in real conversations about what can be done going forward and amongst each other.
 
"I have been worried that when we get back, people will forget about all the progress we've made," Wright said. "I think having those tough conversations, in a team that may not be as diverse as women's basketball, still having those conversations within teams is going to make a world of difference.
 
"I feel like even with the CAA, they are making huge strides to make it more diverse and make it comfortable for people of color and student-athletes of color, just having a conversation openly was really exciting."
 
The conference-wide summit often brings together student-athletes that might not otherwise know each other.
 
Both Webster and Wright expressed how much they enjoy meeting their counterparts at the universities they see throughout the season during conference action.
 
"To be able to go to the CAA and represent Towson, show how diverse we are and how much we want to learn and grow from each other," Webster said. "It's pretty cool to be able to learn from people from all over the country, there were people on the Zoom call from Germany, London, it's cool that it reaches so far."
 
"Me and someone from Hofstra were the only women's basketball players in the group," Wright mentioned. "So, I probably never would have spoken to some of those people, but I think I met some people in there that I can have friendships with."
 
Going forward there are plans to have more virtual conference-wide SAAC calls with these leaders this summer. Typically there is a community service portion of the in-person summit, but the student-athletes are looking forward to make up for that in the future.
 
The Towson SAAC Executive Board is planning for the upcoming school year and what kinds of projects they would like to tackle and plans to implement.
 
"We really are trying to focus on our involvement in the community, which is going to be limited with CVOID-19, but we are trying to increase going out and talking to people," Wright said. "Showing people that we aren't just athletes but we are students at Towson and that we really care about people and Towson as a whole."