RICHMOND, Va. – Towson University men's basketball forward Tomiwa Sulaiman and volleyball defensive specialist Sydney Stewart represented the athletics department at the annual Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Leadership Summit from June 20-22.

The summit included 23 student-athletes, 10 administrators from CAA institutions, including Towson's director of student-athlete experience Dahne Brown-Boyer, and several members of the conference staff.

Participants shared insights regarding the student-athlete experience with the opportunity of interacting with administrators and conference staff members about a variety of issues in the ever-changing world of collegiate athletics. The group of student-athletes represented 15 different sports. Sulaiman, a rising senior, was the lone men's basketball player.

"It was a great place to network and meet like-minded people with the same goals," said Sulaiman, who averaged 5.8 points and 4.2 rebounds per game last season. "It was a big growth experience because not only did we learn about student-athlete development, but we also did activities to learn about ourselves to help us discover ourselves outside of athletics. It made me realize that there are things we can do both outside and inside the sport to help us grow. Instead of being just a basketball player, I am a basketball player with a voice that can help change and inspire people."

The group heard presentations from Dr. Morgan Russell-Stokes, the Dean for Student Equity & Inclusion at the University of Richmond, who discussed inclusive practices on and off the field, and former Baltimore Orioles farmhand Dylan Rheault of The Shift Group, who helps connect former college athletes with meaningful sales employment opportunities.

"One of the best takeaways from the summit was the presentation by The Shift Group," said Stewart, who ranked sixth in the conference with 388 digs last season as a sophomore. "He was focused on preparing student-athletes from the transition out of college into the real world. We talked about marketing ourselves to make a smooth transition from the playing field to the business world."

The student-athletes filmed a public service announcement on the importance of voting and voter registration and engaged in community service activity at The Steward School.

"Just being able to hear everybody else's experience was awesome," Stewart said. "Although they are similar, they are also different and to be able to draw ideas that we can bring back to Towson will make our SAAC program stronger. There were multiple volleyball players in the room. Before I only saw them as competition across the net, but I built some genuine friendships."

"The overall experience was great," added Sulaiman, a London native who spent his first two years of college at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). "Since I got back, I have talked to my teammates about it and recommend they join SAAC as well. Being an international student is very niche. There are a things we cannot do, so this was something I wanted. Dahne recommended me because she saw I had an interest in making change. It is important to know that you are more of a leader and more of an activist than you realize. You do not have to be an influencer to be of influence."
 
The CAA SAAC was established in 1998 after the adoption of Proposal No. 98-99, mandating that all Division I conferences have Student-Athlete Advisory Committees.