POUGHKEEPSIE, New York - The Marist Center For Student-Athlete Enhancement hosted three community service events on campus this weekend from Friday night through Sunday afternoon.
On Friday, March 24, all 11 of Marist’s women’s teams volunteered at the Girl Scouts Sports Sampler, which took place with the help of LEAP (Ladies Empowering Athletics Program). Members of each team held 20-minute sessions about their respective sports in McCann Arena, McCann Natatorium, the racquetball courts, and the auxiliary gymnasium for approximately 50 Heart of the Hudson Girl Scouts. The event provided an opportunity for participants to choose their favorite sport and stimulate their interest in athletics and fitness.
The following day the American Heart Association Dutchess County Heart Walk took place on campus. Four teams of walkers from Marist College participated, including dozens of faculty, staff, and students.
Women’s and men’s basketball hosted their 27th annual Kids Day Out clinics March 26. The events were co-hosted by the college’s Office of Accommodations & Accessibility and benefitted the Marist College Scholarship for Students With Disabilities. Approximately 70 girls and 117 boys between ages of 7-17 participated.
Marist CSAE partnered with the Marist Fair Trade and the Campus Sustainability Advisory committees to host Shut Out Trafficking. The athletics driven initiative raised awareness of human trafficking in our own country and abroad. There was a film screening March 22, a Fair Trade Wine Tasting for those ages 21 and over March 24, and the week concluded with tabling at Saturday’s men’s lacrosse game versus Holy Cross on March 25.
Many CSAE events are planned for the coming weeks of the semester. At 5:30 p.m. March 28 sexual assault survivor and victims' advocate Brenda Tracy will speak in the Murray Student Center. Tracy will share her survival story to members of the campus community and teach people how to be engaged in activism to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. There will be separate lectures for male and female student-athletes the afternoon of March 29.
March 29 will also be LEAP Networking Night. Marist LEAP seeks to increase the awareness of leadership development among girls and women via several methods. The program provides social, cultural, and educational opportunities for Marist female student-athletes and forms a network among them, campus faculty, campus administrators, and local professionals. Female student-athletes also get to experience opportunities to enhance personal growth and empowerment through panels, workshops, speakers, and community service.
On April 2, Marist will host the Special Olympics. The regional competition will feature games and skills contests in basketball and powerlifting as well as some swimming races in McCann Natatorium. Members of Marist’s varsity athletic programs will help execute all aspects of the event including keeping score, announcing, officiating, and set up and clean up duties.
Marist CSAE will hold two events at the end of April: the Athlete 2 Athlete Alumni Networking Event from 12-3 p.m. on April 23 and Student-Athlete Day, an end of the academic year celebration with games and activities, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 26.
The Marist Center for Student-Athlete Enhancement works closely with student-athletes as well as faculty advisors on academic planning, study skills, goal-setting, majors, and minors. The office also assists student-athletes to identify major and pre-professional programs that will prepare them for life in the professional world. The center offers tutoring, proofreading and open study hall periods for all Marist student-athletes.
