Institutions Come Together For Landmark Institute

MADISON, N.J. – The Landmark Conference hosted its second Collaboration/Integration Institute Feb. 3-4 at the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. The two-day event brought together administrators, coaches and student-athletes from each of the eight institutions in the Division III athletics conference in order to cultivate collaborative efforts with a focus on student-athlete welfare.

In attendance at the Institute were the Chief Executive Officers, Athletics Directors, four head coaches, as well as two Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members from all eight Landmark institutions. The event was made possible by funding from the NCAA Strategic Initiative Grant program which is intended to encourage collaboration and involvement of all

Landmark CEOs and ADs discuss conference issues.

Division III constituent groups in planning, decision-making and accountability of programming at the "local level" to achieve the goals established in the strategic plan and the grant program.

The featured speaker for the Institute was Janet P. Judge, attorney at law with a concentration on collegiate sports law and a former student-athlete at Harvard/Radcliffe College

The Institute began on Tuesday Feb. 3 with a presentation from Judge entitled “Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct and Student–Athlete Welfare in sport for the student-athlete, coach, parent(s) and the fan(s)”. The interactive presentation focused on sportsmanship and the recent problems student-athletes have been having in regards to internet social-networking sites and the personal information that can be gathered there and used to exploit them.

Following the presentation a reception was held with dinner and roundtable discussion ensued. Various topics discussed included, the awarding of financial aid in terms of athletic leadership; first-aid, CPR and AED certification requirements for head coaches; student-athlete nutrition; Division III philosophy and marketing; pre-game music and its relation to sportsmanship; Facebook issues; and the lack of female head coaches.

The Institute resumed on Wednesday morning with more group discussions. Athletic Directors met with the Chief Executive Officers in a collaborative effort to discuss issues such as: working together to advance academic issues; data sharing; cost containment; and student-athlete welfare issues.

While the AD’s and CEO’s met, the Head Coaches and student-athletes broke into separate groups to continue discussions on various topics. Coaches discussed issues regarding out of

Landmark SAAC members work to hammer out a Sportsmanship Award.

season practice as well as recruiting technologies. The student-athletes developed the criteria to be considered for a Landmark Conference Sportsmanship Award as well as discussing the developing relationship between SAAC and the Special Olympics. Student-athletes were then given the opportunity to sit and discuss with the coaches as equals previous topics of interest. At the conclusion of the discussions and meetings, each constituency group presented action items for the Landmark Conference to pursue in the coming year.

The Institute concluded on Wednesday with closing remarks by Dr. Christopher Thomforde, the President of Landmark Conference member Moravian College and Chairman of the Landmark Executive Board. He’s also a former Division I student-athlete at Princeton University.

The Landmark Conference was officially formed in June of 2006 and began competition in the fall of 2007. The conference is comprised of eight colleges, universities and a service academy within the mid-Atlantic region. The eight Landmark member institutions are: Drew University, Goucher College, Juniata College, Moravian College, Susquehanna University, The Catholic University of America, The University of Scranton, and United States Merchant Marine Academy.

Release written by Glenn Fitzgerald, Landmark Conference intern