|
Men's Soccer Senior Patrick Henry Named to Division I National SAAC
Aug. 17, 2006 Men's soccer senior Patrick Henry has been selected as the MAAC representative to serve on this year's Division I National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Henry becomes one of just 31 Division I student-athletes on this year's council and the first Siena student-athlete to serve on the committee. "We are very proud of Patrick in achieving this well deserved honor," director of athletics John D'Argenio said. "This is a great opportunity for our College and conference to have a voice on this important national panel." Henry brings a long list of athletic, academic and community accolades to the committee. Entering his second year as captain of the soccer team, he is a Preseason All-Conference pick for the second consecutive year. Henry was a Third Team All-Region selection as a junior and a Second Team All-MAAC pick as a freshman. He has been named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week twice and was the 2003 Siena Soccer Rookie of the Year. Academically, Henry is a member of Siena's college-wide honors program. He was recently inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society. Henry is a two-time MAAC All-Academic Team and MAAC Honor Roll selection and was the 2005 recipient of Siena's Leo Dufort Scholar-Athlete Award. Henry has distinguished himself outside of the playing fields and classroom throughout his Siena career. As aspiring political activist, Henry spent the summer of preceding his junior year serving an internship with the Scottish Parliament. During his stay in the capital city of Edinburgh he worked as researcher- concentrating on social issues, mainly, child poverty. He was the Siena delegate at the Harvard Model United Nations Conference this past spring and has served on Siena's SAAC since the fall of 2004. Henry is also a member of Siena's Political Science Society, the College's Democrats Club and the Pre-Law Society. He is an active member of Siena's Saints in the Community program where he will serve as student director of the 2006-2007 St. Casmir program. The Division I national SAAC consists of one student-athlete from each of the 31 Division I conferences. Members are selected by the Division I SAAC from a pool of three nominees from each of the represented conferences. The Division I Management Council ratifies the appointment. Each student-athlete serves a two-year term and may be reappointed to a second two-year term. However, the student-athlete may only serve up to one year after exhausting their eligibility. The Division I SAAC reports directly to the Division I Management Council, and two SAAC members participate in each meeting of the Management Council as nonvoting members. It is through these two mechanisms that NCAA Division I student-athletes offer input and assist in shaping the proposed legislation and other policies by which their division is governed. The following information was taken from the NCAA SAAC website What is a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee? (SAAC) A student-athlete advisory committee (SAAC) is a committee made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The SAAC also offers input on the rules, regulations and polices that affect student-athletes' lives on NCAA member institution campuses. Presently, there are separate national SAACs for NCAA Divisions I, II and III. NCAA legislation mandates that all member institutions have SAACs on their respective campuses. Further, NCAA legislation requires that all member conferences have SAACs. The information that follows will assist you in understanding how the network of SAACs, from individual campus committees to the conference and/or national committees, interact and support one another to shape intercollegiate athletics policy and enhance the student-athlete experience. History of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee An Association-wide SAAC was adopted at the 1989 NCAA Convention and was formed primarily to review and offer student-athlete input on NCAA activities and proposed legislation that affected student-athlete welfare. The initial national committee was comprised of student-athletes from all membership divisions for the purpose of ensuring that the student-athlete voice was one that accounted for the myriad of educational and athletics experiences of both female and male student-athletes at all NCAA member institutions. In August 1997, the NCAA federated along divisional lines. The federation caused the SAAC to expand to three SAACs representing NCAA Divisions I, II and III. Each national divisional committee is comprised of both female and male student-athletes charged with the responsibility of assisting in the review of NCAA proposed legislation and representing the voice of the student-athlete in the NCAA governance structure. This is accomplished by providing student-athlete input on issues related to student-athlete welfare that are division-specific. (Federation has increased student-athlete participation in the governance process of intercollegiate athletics by increasing the number of SAAC members from the former Association-wide committee of 28 student-athletes to a sum total of 79 members serving on the national Divisions I, II, and III committees). The input of the respective Divisions I, II and III SAACs continues to be sought by a variety of constituencies within the Association. Student-athlete committee members have the opportunity to speak with their respective NCAA Management Councils, and the Divisions II and III SAACs continue to speak to legislative issues on the NCAA Convention floor. National SAACs (Divisions I, II and III) at a glance: Mission Statement of the National SAACs "The mission of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is to enhance the total student-athlete experience by promoting opportunity, protecting student-athlete welfare and fostering a positive student-athlete image."
|
