The Student Athlete Advisory Committee has decided to stop holding its annual formal in order to focus on community service projects.
SAAC develops ways to enhance student athletes’ experience at the university by promoting diversity and protecting the student athletes’ image and well being, said SAAC co-president senior Danielle Dornbusch.
The formals, which were usually held at a local bar and open to all USD athletes, were fun, Dornbusch said, but after taking a few factors into consideration, it just wasn’t worth it.
The committee has started a number of community service projects such as a shoe drive to benefit the Cheyenne Indian Reservation and buying bowling balls for the Special Olympics, she said.
“Our efforts could be better spent on things that help the community,” Dornbusch said. “The formals were just a time to let loose.”
Coordinating the formal put enormous strain on the group’s time, Dornbusch said.
Head swimming coach and SAAC adviser Jason Mahowald agreed.
“(The formal) is not what we want to spend our time doing,” he said. “We want to be out in the community, doing something that will make a difference in other people’s lives.
Because alcohol was provided at the formals, the event may not have created the best image for student athletes, Dornbusch said. That reality was a factor the committee kept in mind when making the decision to stop holding the events, Dornbusch said.
“We wanted to make sure that the event we held represented student athletes in an appropriate manner,” she said. “To plan something that could be potentially damaging or cause problems, that’s something we took into consideration.”
Mahowald said SAAC isn’t any different from other student groups when dealing with student drinking and that drinking wasn’t the deciding factor in the decision.
“Drinking is an issue for every group on campus,” he said. “We didn’t stop doing the athlete formal because of it.”
Dornbush said timing was the main issue that led to the decision, stating that it was difficult to find a mutually convenient time for all athletes to attend a party.
Sophomore Hailie Meyer, a soccer player, said the formals were a good way for athletes from all sports to interact but says there are other ways to achieve that.
“Like in the summer, we’ll have a movie night to get to know each other,” she said.
Although she understands the decision to discontinue the formal, Meyer said she will miss the event.
“I thought they were really fun,” she said. “All of the soccer team really got into it and got all dressed up.”
Reach reporter Joe Sneve at Joe.Sneve@usd.edu.
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