Nov. 14, 2007

In an effort to highlight the leadership and good works of the student-athletes in the conference, the ACC SAAC began the SAAC in ACCtion initiative to provide on-line articles about the SAAC programs at the league's 12 member institutions. The goal of this initiative is to shed light on the great things our student-athletes are doing to affect significant positive change on campus and in our communities. Every two weeks, the SAAC leaders from a different school will provide a SAAC in ACCtion update on how their program is getting involved. When reading these articles, we hope that it is evident that their efforts to give back result in so much more.

"Student-athletes aren't just athletes and they're not just students. We do a lot of things that change the face of our university for all students, as well as student-athletes. Also, we are a big part of the legislative process here. If we put our heads together, we can do almost anything that's feasible. " -- Dexter Adams
NC State's SAAC Web Site Senior track & field athlete Dexter Adams has served on the NC State SAAC since his sophomore year, was president as a junior, and is an ACC SAAC representative this year. Adams took a few minutes to chat with theACC.com about SAAC's initiatives and his experiences. What is the overall goal of NC State's SAAC? To bridge the gap between student-athletes and administration is the biggest over-arching goal. We work to get the administrators to understand the problems and issues that we have on campus and to help facilitate student-athlete life. How is your SAAC set up? We have representatives from every team, with the number of representatives based on the size of the team. We have several committees, including one for student affairs (that deals with such issues as) the dining hall issues and student fees. We have a community service committee and something called "On-Pack" where student-athletes earn points for attending other sporting events, doing community service, things of that nature. Christmas adopt-a-family What are the recurring community service programs that SAAC organizes? One of the things we do is "Booking with the Pack," which is a book drive. People bring in children's books, and we collect as many as we can. We bring them to Boys and Girls Clubs and (other organizations like that). We also do a "Wolfpack Blitz," where we go out to as many local schools as possible during the week and read to the kids. There is usually a good turn-out for that. We adopt a family every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and provide gifts and dinner. Along with the Thanksgiving canned food drive, there's a toy drive, too. We collect toys at a women's basketball game, and then go to underprivileged families. We have a list of families, and they also go out to other organizations. Are there any other big events planned for this year? We have a winter gala-type event for the student-athletes coming up at the end of the month, (which) we hold in the football stadium suites. We raise money from that and give it to a charity of our choice, which we have not chosen yet. The big thing that we just did was the Student-Athlete Talent Show. We're thinking about doing that annually. A few of our members came up with the idea. It's really a variety show; you don't have to be that talented to be in it! It's just for humor and for entertainment. Each team was represented in the show with as many members who wanted to come and perform. People did everything from dance routines to singing to playing an instrument. Two student-athletes hosted it, so every part of it was done by student-athletes with the help of Tonya Washington, our student affairs director. We donated proceeds to the Frankie Lemmon Foundation, which serves children. They sent us a thank you letter, which was really nice, and said we were able to help five families with the proceeds. The women's swim team in the talent show Are there certain student-athlete welfare issues that SAAC is currently focusing on? A recurring issue that comes up a lot in our meetings is the dining hall menu - the quality of the food. That's something we're trying to work on, getting a menu that is diverse but still healthy. Other issues we talk about a lot are the conditions of the locker rooms and training facilities and things we could do to improve (them, because) these are the places we go every day. What issues do you feel SAAC has really had an impact on? Last year was a big year for legislation, but (the biggest issue we had an impact on) was the text messaging ban. It was voted on to ban coaches from text messaging recruits; they can only email, fax, or write letters. What types of programs does SAAC sponsor for the student-athletes? (In addition to) the winter gala and the talent show, we have a SAAC retreat every August. It's an overnight retreat, a team-building type of event. We also have speakers come in. This year, we had a "What Kind of Leader Are You?" presentation. A former Patriots player is the father of a student-athlete here, and he spoke to us about being leaders and got us thinking about what type of leader we'd like to be using analogies. He did a quick talk on the perception of student-athletes in the news. Most of the time, the negative news is what you see. So he talked about making that perception more positive. How did you get involved with SAAC? I represent track and field and have been a representative since sophomore year. It was suggested to me by my coach to get involved, and he gave my name to Tonya Washington. I did it that first year and it just became something that I did and became second nature to do every year. I was president my junior year, which was a lot of hard work. That was a big jump from just being a representative of my team. Can you talk a little about your experiences as an ACC SAAC representative? It has taught me a lot of leadership skills - being responsible and staying on top of things. It was (my job to help facilitate) coming up with new ideas for community outreach and, like I said earlier, to help bridge the gap between student-athletes and the administration. How do you feel your time on NC State's SAAC and as an ACC SAAC representative will help you after graduation? I'm not going to say it's more important than your grades or actual degree, but it's one of those things where your future employer looks at it and realizes what SAAC is and what it represents and knows that you (have the ability) to lead and come up with ideas. I think it's very important. If there was something you would like the public to know about NC State's SAAC and its student-athletes, what would it be? The biggest thing is that student-athletes aren't just athletes and they're not just students. We do a lot of things that change the face of our university for all students, as well as student-athletes. Also, we are a big part of the legislative process here. If we put our heads together, we can do almost anything that's feasible.