The Pottruck Center for Student-Athlete Success (CSAS) at Penn Athletics celebrated National Student-Athlete Day on Monday, April 8, with goodies, giveaways, and a raffle on Locust Walk. The NCAA observes National Student-Athlete Day annually on April 6, but the CSAS opted for an April 8 observance this year because of a sunnier and warmer forecast.
CSAS staffers set up three tables in front of the Sweeten Alumni House, and were stationed there from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., celebrating the character and efforts of Penn student-athletes, many of whom were on hand. Passersby grabbed a variety of snacks, color-changing cups, chip clips, business card holders, and Penn Athletics-branded reusable bags. Insomnia Cookies and Axis Pizza were also on site and provided refreshments and treats. Interim President J. Larry Jameson stopped by to revel and rejoice with students.
Penn has just under 1,000 student-athletes—American and international—which is 10% of the entire undergraduate student body. Emma Springer, student-athlete success coordinator at the CSAS, says student-athletes add a unique perspective and energy to the larger campus community.
“Our student-athletes’ interests and passions span across all four [undergraduate] schools and University organizations, so when they step into those spaces, they are bringing the traits they’ve developed through sport to those endeavors,” she says. “These include resiliency, collaboration, a strong work ethic, compassion, determination—the list can continue.”
At this year’s celebration, CSAS staff brought a blank poster for student-athletes to write what being a student-athlete at Penn means to them, in one word.
“Some of the words that stood out to me were ‘honor,’ ‘family,’ ‘grit,’ ‘rewarding,’ and ‘The Dream,’” Springer says. “Many words were repeated numerous times on the page, but ‘family’ in particular, which speaks to the special bond our student-athletes form through their sport that not everyone has the opportunity to experience in the same way.
“I was also struck that many of our student-athletes paused upon reading the prompt, as it’s almost impossible to encapsulate a multi-year and multi-faceted experience into one word.”
