Amherst College Athletics

The Amherst SAAC provides a voice for student-athletes, promotes communication between student-athletes and the administration, builds a sense of community within athletics and between athletics and the larger Amherst community, organizes community engagement efforts, and promotes a positive student-athlete image on campus.. 

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee was created on the Amherst College Campus in the Fall of 2006 and is now fully functional. The members of the SAAC have been divided into three committees--Publicity and Spirit, Community Engagement, and Campus Relations. These committees provide the foundation for the SAAC to make an impact on a number of different areas within our community. Each SAAC committee will work both individually on their own projects, but come together to accomplish goals that are beneficial for the entire Amherst community.

Publicity and Spirit
This committee will address ways in which to get the SAAC and its initiatives public; look at ways to increase visibility, awareness and support for the student-athletes in all sports; build / maintain a web site for the committee.

Community Engagement 
This committee will address ways in which the student-athletes, athletic department and the respective teams can be more visible within our community; increase awareness of engagement opportunities; assist outside organizations through support and participation; enhance the lives of others by looking for ways in which we can volunteer our time and energy within the Amherst community.

Campus Relations 
This committee will address issues dealing with communication between student-athletes and faculty; ways to improve interaction between student-athletes and others on campus; having members of SAAC on various campus committees where the issue of athletics would be in question.

Together We Are Amherst  
“Together We Are Amherst” is an initiative to promote unity and pride among students, faculty, and staff at Amherst.  As part of the “Together We Are Amherst” initiative, SAAC strives to unite and celebrate the Amherst College community through various activities, including promoting different events across campus, sponsoring study breaks, and organizing “Together We Are Amherst” giveaways.

SAAC Game Days
Through its SAAC Game Day initiative, SAAC strives to highlight one game/match/meet for each varsity sport.  As part of SAAC Game Day, SAAC promotes the event through social media, has a presence at the event, and facilitates giveaways, raffles, contests, etc. during the event.  

Community Engagement  
Each varsity team designates one SAAC representative to participate on the community engagement committee.  That representative works to organize their team’s involvement in community engagement efforts.

NCAA DIII Week
Each year, as part of NCAA DIII Week, SAAC spearheads a community engagement initiative.  Last year, SAAC organized a clothing drive for Craig’s Doors – a local nonprofit organization that is committed to helping people to find ways to become empowered to improve the quality of their lives through the creation of safe, respectful shelter and housing.