At Monday’s General Assembly meeting, Temple Student Government introduced a plan to help student-athletes affected by the upcoming sports cuts.
Ray Smeriglio, TSG communications director, presented an overview of a new section of TSG’s website, which has features for affected student-athletes and students who want to support the sports that are slated to be cut.
The website has information for athletes who plan to transfer or to stay at Temple, including scholarship and financial aid resources, emotional and psychological aid and career help.
“We wanted to give them something to make the process easier,” Smeriglio said.
Additionally, Student Body President Darin Bartholomew announced a campaign to support affected student-athletes and their sports teams in the coming months. The university-wide Owl Days will be a partnership between TSG and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and will provide transportation for students to attend games. So far, dates have been set for rowing and crew, tennis, track and field, baseball, softball, lacrosse, and fencing.
Bartholomew said TSG has never before made a push for student support the sports, which normally see much lower attendance numbers than the university’s most popular sports, basketball and football.
“We hope to see tailgates at every event,” said Brooklin White, president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and a member of the softball team.
Also at the meeting, TSG reminded students to attend Owls on the Hill Day on April 29. In the wake of Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposal to keep funding for Temple and other state-related universities at the same level as last year, Bartholomew said it’s important to consistently have a presence at the capitol and keep Temple’s needs in the minds of state legislators.
Captain Eileen Bradley of Campus Safety Services made an offer to all student organizations interested in talking about safety. For free, a team from CSS will make a short presentation on some of their lesser-known resources available to students, including a walk-in escort program and “to your door” shuttle services.
