This year, ETSU’s Marketing and Communications Department and Athletics Department are teaming up to raise more for athletes through a simple request: giving a dollar a day for a year.
Athletic Director, Richard Sander, described the campaign as a grassroots initiative that people are excited to participate in.
Sander said they want a thousand people to donate a dollar a day, with a goal of ultimately raising $300,065. “A dollar a day, or 30 dollars a month. . . one lunch a month could help build this program so that our student athletes have success,” said Sander.
The 1,000 people is made up of community members, coaches, administrators and staff/faculty. “It makes a statement to our student-athletes that people care about you and care about what’s going on here,” said Sander.
Sander said the new fundraising model was created with student-athletes as the main focus.
“One of the things that came clear to me is that we had to create a sustainable model where we would be able to move forward strategically and position ETSU athletics for the future,” said Sander. “It became pretty clear to me, the critical pieces are student-athletes.”
Sander shared that the money raised will go directly to a new approach of enhancing the lives of student-athletes. Sander said, “We have to get into a much more holistic approach to deal with nutrition, mental health, sports psychology and deal with career development.”
Sander said changes in the athletic department are already underway with full time mental health counseling and fueling station on its way.
Sander said that the university hopes to implement new programs that help student-athletes beyond ETSU. They would like to “. . .add a sports psychologist on staff to develop a career planning and placement center,” said Sander. “What most people come to college for is, once they get finished, to have a clear path. . . and if we can help them move forward on that path, that’s what we want to do.”
Sander shared that the campaign is set to continue every year, with the professional success of student-athletes always in mind. “People are doing this to help student athletes have a better experience,” said Sander.
