SAAC and the Athletic Department collaborate to thank student fans for their support of sports
By Jessie Hethcoat
The Student Athlete Advisory Committee and the UP Athletic Department are teaming up to host an on-campus dance at the start of the spring semester.
The initial idea sprang out of discussion among the SAAC Executive Board. According to senior Dan Rhine, executive board member, the committee thought of the idea as a way to say give back and thank student fans.
"We just want to say thank you," Rhine said. "Also, we want a way to break the riff between athletes and those students who don't compete. It's a way to come together."
From the marketing side, the idea to host a dance came from a marketing intern with the Athletic Department. Tricia Miller, athletics marketing director, said the idea seemed like a good one to officials seeking ways to draw more attendance.
"We are trying to find ways to make the game an event, more than a game, but a whole evening," Miller said.
Rhine explained that the SAAC committee had the idea first.
"Marketing came to us and said that they had a really great idea," Rhine said. "We said, 'Great! It's about time we do this."
Whether students will have to pay to attend the dance is still in the works. According to Rhine, the SAAC committee is working hard to make the dance free to students.
"The cost isn't finalized yet," Rhine said. "But we're going to do everything we can to really make it free for students."
Miller is also unsure whether students will have to pay. She discussed concerns with college students having to pay to attend the event.
"We want to give students more reasons to want to come to the basketball games and for them to have fun on campus," Miller said.
The three school dances UP hosts each year all require students to pay a fee. River Run, Homecoming and Dance of the Decades tickets are usually under $15. All dances include food and drinks.
Junior Alyssa Schmidt-Carr, the athletic committee chair for ASUP Senate took part in some of the planning with the marketing department.
"We were talking about how the students really want another dance in the spring," Schmidt-Carr said. "We thought it would be a great idea to reward students for going to the games and make basketball as popular, if not more popular than soccer at UP."
Details other than cost, such as time and formality of the dance, have yet to be determined. The dance is planned for Jan. 17, after the men's basketball team plays the Santa Clara University Broncos in the team's second home conference game of the season.
The plan seems to appeal to fans and also to students who aren't basketball fans.
"I don't usually attend basketball games, but I think a game combined with a dance would definitely be fun and worthwhile," freshman Ellen Farber said.
Miller invited Pilot fans to help with the planning effort. A planning meeting will be at 12:30 Friday in the Chiles Center.
Amie Dahnke contributed to this article
