Gabe Oppler is the Haverford College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) featured student-athlete. Gabe is a junior on the men's soccer team from Silver Spring, Maryland.

Gabe joined the soccer team during the spring of his first year, but in his inaugural season with the team he appeared in nine games, including the team's third Centennial Conference Championship game in four years. He was also named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll last season.

While he contributes significantly on the field, Gabe also excels in the classroom. Majoring in Biology with minors in Spanish and Environmental Studies, he enjoys both the breadth and depth that his course-load provides, and he plans on continuing his studies in Ecuador next semester through SIT's Comparative Ecology and Conservation Program. While he isn't entirely sure what he wants to do after graduation, he says that post-college plans "may include conservation work and hopefully will involve significant time outdoors," and graduate school may also be an option in the future.

Outside of the classroom, Gabe positively impacts our community in a variety of ways. For the past two years he has been a science tutor in the KINSC's Mentoring and Student Teaching (MAST) program, which involves leading middle and high school students through weekly science experiments on Haverford's campus. Gabe also serves as the Sustainability Assistant on the college's Committee for Environmental Responsibility (CER), where he is responsible for chairing weekly meetings and organizing committee initiatives. Some of the CER's past projects that Gabe has been instrumental in enacting have included establishing a composting program in the Dining Center and "Do it in the Dark", a campus-wide energy conservation campaign and competition.

Gabe, with his continued commitment to excellence in athletics, academics, and community engagement, exemplifies what we all aspire to be as student-athletes here at Haverford.

Article written by Sam Yarosh '16