Sport for Social Change Conference Preview

The Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) will hold its second annual Sport for Social Change Conference, beginning on Thursday, Nov. 13 and concluding Friday, Nov. 14.

Thursday's portion of the Sport for Social Change Conference will feature a conversation with Sonny Vaccaro, the legendary sports marketing executive. The conversation will be directed by Tom Farrey, an enterprise reporter for ESPN and director of the Aspen Institute's Sport and Society Program. Vaccaro will speak about his involvement and thoughts about the Ed O'Bannon v. NCAA case.

Vaccaro and Farrey's conversation will take place at 6 p.m. in the Bossone Research Center's Mitchell Auditorium.

S4SC: Legendary Former Marketing Executive Sonny Vaccaro to Speak at Drexel

Sonny Vaccaro, legendary former Nike marketing executive, will speak at the 2nd annual Sport for Social Change Conference presented by the Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, the SMTSU announced Wednesday.

The title of Vaccaro’s lecture is “College Sport at a Crossroads: Perspectives on the Demise of NCAA,” which will feature his experiences helping to grow the Nike empire, while fighting for student-athlete rights along the way. He will deliver his lecture from 11-11:50 a.m. on Nov. 14.

S4SC: ESPN and Aspen Institute's Tom Farrey to Speak at Drexel

Tom Farrey, director of the Aspen Institute Sport and Society Program and ESPN reporter, will speak at the 2nd annual Sport for Social Change Conference presented by the Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, the SMTSU announced Tuesday.

The title of Farrey’s lecture is “The Aspen Institute’s Project Play & Promotion of Physical Literacy,” which will feature his work as the director of the Aspen Institute Sport and Society Program. He will deliver his lecture from 10-10:50 a.m. on Nov. 14.

S4SC: Political Advocate Suzan Shown Harjo to Speak at Drexel

Suzan Shown Harjo, a prominent Native American political advocate, will speak at the 2nd annual Sport for Social Change Conference presented by the Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, the SMTSU announced Monday.

The title of Harjo’s lecture is “The Washington R-Word: Racial Politics, Legal Challenges & Social Harms,” which will touch on her 40-plus years of work fighting for the rights of Native Americans. She will deliver her lecture from 1-1:50 p.m. on Nov. 14.

S4SC: Drexel SMTSU Announces 2nd Annual Sport for Social Change Conference

The Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) is pleased to announce details for the second annual Sport for Social Change Conference.

Capitalizing on the success of the first edition of the conference last October, the SMTSU will hold the Sport for Social Change Conference on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held in the Academic Bistro on the sixth floor of the Paul Peck Problem Solving and Research Center (aka Academic Building) on the corner of 33rd and Race St.

Holding the Sport for Social Change Conference in the Academic Bistro offers a unique opportunity to bring together all of the disciplines housed in the new Center for Hospitality and Sport Management. Students from Drexel’s culinary arts and hospitality programs will be preparing and serving all three of the meals during the event: breakfast, lunch and appetizers.

Just like last year, the event will be FREE and open to all.

Guard the Post: Notre Dame shows LGBT athletes support, despite Catholic association

Three weeks ago, the University of Notre Dame, possibly the most famous Catholic University in the world, released a video on the internet that has since gone viral. In association with the You Can Play project, Notre Dame's athletic department tells all their athletes, no matter their sexual orientation or sport, that they can play.

#S4SC in Review: Patrick Hruby

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS. Patrick Hruby stressed this quote. “In order to get the right answers, we would need to ask the right questions,” he mentioned. However, what exactly are the right questions.

#S4SC in Review: Eli Wolff

Eli Wolff, Program Director of the Sport and Development Project at Brown University, spoke at the Sport for Social Change about the topic of access and inclusion for all athletes but specifically athletes with disabilities.  His presentation had three major parts. The first part that he spoke about was how he had his earliest advocacy movement.  When Eli Wolff was in elementary school he had a Physical Education teacher that would not let him do pull ups on the bar like the rest of the class.  He keep asking to do it until one day he had enough and in the cleaner version said “Screw you I can do this.” 

#S4SC Preview: Eric Zillmer and Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation

Following yesterday's preview of the LGBT Issues in Sport section by Kevin Giordano, today I will be previewing two other sections: Athletes Giving Back and Youth Development in Sport.

Dr. Eric Zillmer, the Director of Athletics and Carl R. Pacifico Professor of Neuropsychology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, will be presenting on the topic of Athletes Giving Back. A major part of the Master Plan of Drexel University is to become the most Socially Responsible and Civically Engaged institution in the United States; the Athletic department already does it's part to contribute to this goal. The Drexel Dragons give hours a year to the West Philadelphia community and surrounding neighborhoods and towns. The goal of this section of the conference is to portray how athletes and athletic entities can utilize their standing in society to give back.

The Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation will be presenting on the topic of youth development in sport. With a mission of teaching our country's youth the value of academics, hard work, and teamwork through hockey, the ESYHF serves over 3,000 children in the Philadelphia area. Sport is a microcosm of society; in turn, a lot of what you learn playing sports can be utilized outside the sport realm. Teaching out nation's youth about these core values at a young age is a responsibility for all sport organizations and there is no better example of this in the Philadelphia region than ESYHF.

Attendees of these sessions will learn how they can use their power as a sport organization to not only give back to society, but also help develop the youth of our country, all via sport. For questions or inquiries please email DrexelSMTSU@gmail.com.

State of the Student Union: Welcome Back!

It's hard to believe that the 2013-14 school year is already here, but the Drexel Sport Management Student Union would like to give you a warm welcome back!

The Drexel SMTSU has been hard at work all summer long with some exciting events and opportunities coming up right away. We hope that you are as excited as we are to jump right into things and continue on our journey through the sports industry. Throughout this year, we hope to make that journey as enjoyable as possible and help all of you out along the way. After all, it's sports and, at the end of the day, sports are fun!

As mentioned, we have some exciting things on-tap from the onset of the year that I would like to bring to your attention.

Drexel SMTSU Announces Sport For Social Change Conference!

The First Annual Sport For Social Change Conference presented by the Drexel Sport Management Student Union (SMTSU) will be held on Friday October 25^th, 2013 at Drexel University. The conference will be FREE of charge for everyone that attends. The event will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the multi-purpose room of the James E. Marks Intercultural Center.

The purpose of the Sport For Social Change Conference is to examine how we as a society can change in a positive manner via sport.