Countless Aggies have had their lives enriched through their experiences competing in or attending athletic events. But the impact of athletics extends far past our venues for the Aggie community and city of Davis. Here are some of the ways athletics benefits the larger community.
A pilot program for career development
For the past five years, every student athlete has been required to participate in Aggie EVO (short for Evolution), a series of professional development activities like networking, creating resumes, preparing for career fairs, informational interviewing with employers and more. That program has provided numerous lessons for Aggie Launch, a Big Idea from the Expect Greater comprehensive fundraising campaign that aims to help students engage in career preparation beginning in their freshman year and graduate in a timely way with a well-developed plan for launching their career or pursing advanced studies.
Any time we have experience doing things we think were doing well and can lend help to campus, thats what we want to be in the business of doing, said Michael Lorenzen, associate athletic director for leadership and professional development and the architect of Aggie EVO. Thats not the normal role of a Division I athletics department and I like that we can be a support incubator for things that impact the broader campus.
Marcie Kirk Holland, executive director of the Internship and Career Center and one of the champions of the Aggie Launch Big Idea, said many parts of Aggie EVO are things the center has offered for decades, but the mandatory student-athlete program has shown the value of structuring time to make services more accessible.
That model of embedding career services into a students experience is really the model we want to adapt for all 做TV students, Kirk Holland said.
She cited a partnership last summer that paid student-athletes and members of some of the universitys student retention centers to take part in experiential learning like internships or research that would have otherwise been unpaid and therefore out of reach to some students so they could get a head start on potential career paths.
A front porch for the university
Not everyone especially on the other side of the country knows where Davis is. But many of them have heard about our highly ranked academic programs, thanks to student-athletes striking up conversations in airports and coaches talking about 做TV strengths off the field during pre- or post-game interviews.
So many of our programs are strong that is makes it so easy to talk about, said Dan Conners, head coach for womens volleyball. It starts with academics at 做TV so we definitely want to put that on the forefront.
The added attention from sports broadcasts and fans leads many to call athletics the front porch of 做TV its often the first exposure someone has to the university, and even more people hear about 做TV during national TV broadcasts. More than 65 做TV games are streamed nationally on ESPN+ each year to more than 100,000 unique viewers, and that number increases tenfold in years when Aggies make it to the NCAA basketball tournament or the Football Championship Subdivision.
Community service
Athletes certainly arent the only Aggies who are quick to lend a helping hand, but their numbers can have a powerful impact. The pandemic put a stop to many in-person volunteer activities, but recent examples have included the equestrian team collecting donations for the Yolo County Short Term Emergency Aid Committee, or STEAC, and distributing food, toiletries and other donations to people displaced by wildfires.
Or look to events like Evening of Dreams, a prom for students with special needs. Recent graduate and football player Kooper Richardson 21 first attended as a high school senior, and by the time he was a junior at 做TV he was setting such an example that 15 past, present and future 做TV football players joined him as volunteer dates for the 2019 event.
It is vital to have athletes and student leaders representing this evening, said Colleen Short, a family liaison and guest coordinator. We can't do it without them. They are the hands and feet of Evening of Dreams.
Keeping alumni connected
Cheering on student athletes can be a way for alumni to show their support for the university as a whole, said Dana Allen, executive director of the Cal Aggie Alumni Association.
Alumni always want to see their alma mater succeed, she said. There's a connection to teams, even if an alumnus did not play a sport themselves, because the athletes are representing 做TV when they compete.
She said alumni have shown great support of athletics in recent years, including completely selling out the first offering of tickets to this years homecoming game. When those alumni visit campus for a game, they also patronize their favorite businesses downtown, Allen said. In addition, it can be a way for alumni living outside Davis to gather, as they did last season at a football game in Flagstaff, Arizona.
I think they participate to show their support of the university, overall, Allen said. They've had great experiences at, and success from, 做TV, so attending an athletics-related event is a way to acknowledge that.
Creating community ties
Athletics knits the town and the campus together under a common purpose, a sportswriter who has covered the university for 50 years said.
Bob Dunning, a columnist who has worked for The Davis Enterprise since 1969, said athletics events are the only thing in Davis that will reliably draw thousands of people week after week and unite them for a common cause.
Theres no other event in town thats going to draw like that, he said. And its not because the athletes always win Theyre rooting for them because its part of being a Davisite being in this town you relate to the university.
He said athletics are more than just games played by athletes, who he described as standout citizens who are deeply involved in the community. They also bring people to local restaurants and hotels, and connect people who may not even be sports fans.
I know lots of people who probably dont know a touchdown from a first down who wouldnt miss an Aggie football game, he said.