SAAC Takes Action-Oriented Approach Heading into New School Year

The Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is taking the new school year in stride with a new approach. The SAAC Executive Committee is working to turn the organization from a group that meets into one that creates change on campus.

The push for change comes from frustration that junior Gideon Bowman, SAAC president and Centenary football player, had with how the organization operated in the past.

Bowman said he felt the organization was not going anywhere, saying, “We just kind of voted to get out of the meetings.” This left Bowman frustrated and feeling like his time in SAAC was being wasted. 

During Bowman's sophomore year, he was chosen as one of two football representatives. He kept seeing the same issues repeatedly and wasn’t happy about it. Bowman felt that committees weren’t making much progress, notably the spring banquet committee, which he will take over this year.

Bowman decided change was needed. He was tired of seeing words without actions and even called out previous leadership in his campaign speech.

The Executive Committee includes Gideon Bowman, president; Herman Pride, vice president; Joshua Mensah, treasurer; and Libby Guidry, secretary. After being elected by their peers in the spring, this group decided that work must start sooner rather than later. The EC met over the summer to determine new committees and the projects that needed to begin.

One thing they decided was a new committee structure that would involve EC members more and have them run their own committees, rather than watching from the sidelines. This upcoming year, there will be four committees. 

Each executive member now leads a committee and is responsible for moving its projects forward. Bowman is leading the Spring Banquet, Guidry is handling social media, Pride is overseeing community service and Mensah is managing finances.

Mensah has already gotten a head start on the finance committee by planning a fundraiser, Pie-A-Coach.

Bowman credits Mensah for carrying the committee, saying, “Josh has done more than any prior treasurer and is driving finances.”

The new leadership has already seen results from its approach.

SAAC came into the school year with a $300 deficit and no agency fund. The executive committee worked with administration to get an agency fund and began fundraising to get the organization back on track.

The first fundraiser was Pie-A-Coach, where students paid for a chance to pie their favorite coaches. Bowman shares he thinks some coaches enjoyed it more than others, but doesn’t want to point any fingers. SAAC also held a 50/50 raffle to help raise money.

Bowman said the organization was already out of its deficit and “well above it” less than a month into the semester.

“It was really more acting than it was speaking,” Bowman said. “We let our actions do the talking, rather than just talking.”

This has been the tone for the beginning of the semester, and Guidry and Bowman want to keep it that way. Bowman described Guidry as “our backbone,” saying she helps keep everyone together and is willing to help with anything the committee needs.

The executive committee has taken on more responsibility this year, with each member owning their committee and advisors providing support and guidance as needed.

SAAC includes nearly 50 Centenary student-athletes, with representatives from each men’s and women’s team. Representatives bring concerns from their teams to SAAC and share information from SAAC with their teammates.

Guidry wants those athletes to know they have a place to go when they have a concern. She wants SAAC to be a group where student-athletes feel seen, valued, and heard and know that their concerns will be taken seriously.

Guidry also wants to see that support extend beyond SAAC meetings and into the stands. She remembers a time when Centenary athletes regularly showed up to support each other at games and wants to see that sense of community return.

She said she wants to “look up in the stands, and if I don't see my parents, I have a whole support system because my friends, my team, and my school are there.”

For the new executive committee, the goal is to continue building on the changes they have made since taking over. They plan to carry that mindset throughout the rest of the school year.

“We want to produce rather than just show,” Bowman said.