VILLANOVA, Pa. – With the exception of teams competing for Centennial Conference Championships over the weekend, the vast majority of the Haverford’s student-athletes volunteered at the 2014 Special Olympics Pennsylvania Fall Festival hosted by Villanova University earlier this month.
An annual tradition of community service for Haverford Athletics, Villanova's festival is one of four statewide Special Olympics events. The event has evolved into the largest student-run Special Olympics event in the world. Over 200 Haverford student-athletes, spanning multiple varsity teams at Haverford College helped make the 26th installment of the annual event another success.
The Haverford volunteer effort, organized by Eighth Dimension, Haverford's Office of Community Service, and promoted by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), is another example of the Haverford athletic department supporting the NCAA Division III Special Olympics initiative. The NCAA hopes the partnership will improve the lives of Special Olympic athletes through their involvement with Division III student-athletes while also fostering a mutual learning experience between Division III student-athletes and Special Olympics athletes.
You can learn more about the Haverford’s SAAC online. Also, be sure to check out photos from the event courtesy of Diana Perry, an executive committee member of SAAC, and the Haverford College women’s tennis team.