Athletics

WAY MORE THAN JUST FUN & GAMES

The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a group of student-athletes with representatives from each varsity sports team, plays a significant role in opening a channel of communication between athletes, coaches, and administration at Tufts while serving as a hub for student-athletes to expand their outreach to the greater Tufts, Medford/Somerville, and Boston communities. In the past, the SAAC has been successful in spearheading initiatives like a Tufts-based Special Olympics event and Mental Health Awareness Week. Through conversations with co-president Evan Szablewski ’23 and committee chair Michelle Adelman ’23, catch a glimpse at some of their recent and ongoing initiatives.

BY JED QUIAOIT ’25

First of all, what’s your major and what activities are you involved in outside of athletics?

Evan Szablewski: I’m majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Engineering Management. I’m also part of Alpha Tau Omega, one of the [gender all-inclusive] fraternities on campus. I was also one of the coordinators for the pre-orientation program Fitness and Individual Development at Tufts (FIT).

Michelle Adelman: Since I’m majoring in Biology and Psychology with an intention to go to physician assistant (PA) school, I work as an EMT over summers. I’m also in the Pre-PA Society, and I previously worked in a lab—the Center for Applied Brain and Cognitive Sciences—a semester or two ago.

What are some SAAC-led initiatives that you’d like to highlight?

MA: There’s a lot of programs to better the community! We do Play for P.I.N.K., where we raise over $25,000 to go towards breast cancer research. At Pride Games, we raise awareness for the LGBTQ+ community. During Mental Health Week, SAAC has a budget to come up with and support activities that promote mental health and wellness. We’re doing a donation drive with the organization Be the Match where everyone who comes gets to swab their cheek; they could be a [donor] “match,” potentially saving someone’s life who’s suffering from a bone marrow disease!

ES: The Brother/Sister Teams is a program where we pair two teams together on campus. This year, we’re having those teams do a community service event with another team of their choice, and those have to be done by the end of the year. Due to COVID, a lot of us didn’t really know what SAAC looked like in years past, so it was up to us to make new changes and mold it into what we think would be best for SAAC moving forward.

What was your involvement in said program(s) like?

ES: I’ve been enjoying it! In my experience [as the men’s swim team representative], we paired with the women’s track team since we’re evenly sized. This spring, we teamed up to do a Mystic River Watershed cleanup and make the ecosystem a little bit cleaner. Another thing about the Brother/Sister teams is that we’re trying to get them to come to each other’s events: we come to their track meets, and they come to our swim meets.

MA: I was the lead on Mental Health Week, and I helped organize some of the activities. We got a lot of coaches to bring their dogs and we had two hours of cute dog therapy, which was great. We were able to rent out the varsity weight room to do a recovery session. Also, we were able to bring in a speaker and do a workshop on body image in the athlete population.

What drew you to SAAC and what motivates you to remain as a student-leader?

MA: I feel like with SAAC, we actually make a change. Every year since I’ve been here, I’ve noticed how much athletics has improved from a physical standpoint and from helping in the community. Tufts Athletics brought in a new Civic Life Coordinator and there’s been a lot of things going on there. We had something for national women’s sports day where we had local girls in the community come–there were 11 sports represented. It’s cool to see how as my years go on and on, Athletics is doing more and more to help the community around them, which I really like.

ES: One of the things that I like about activities is giving back to the athletic community and trying to do good for this community. When I came to Tufts, the Athletic Department and the varsity sports team meant so much to me, seeing how much this school and these athletic teams care for each other because we’re all Jumbos here! We all care about each other so much. Specifically with the athletics department, I consider: how would I give back to this community that has done so much for me? So, my role in SAAC has been a lot of me trying to give back to the athletic community, Tufts, and the Medford and Somerville areas as well.