Welcome back to “Updates from Ram Country!”
Now that we’re back in the full swing of things here on campus, I can’t tell you how refreshing and exciting it has been to see our campus buzzing with energy. We are seeing record student turnout to games, and as you all know, our student section drives the emotion of the games so it has been awesome to have them back at our events.
UPDATES FROM RAM COUNTRY
There is a lot to get to in this edition of my update newsletter from our sports back in action, to updates from campus, and even the changing landscape of college athletics.
THINKING OF CSU PUEBLO
Over the weekend, our fellow CSU System school, CSU Pueblo, suffered a tragic loss in their athletic department when a student-athlete succumbed to her injuries sustained in a car crash. Two other CSU Pueblo students were involved, and our thoughts and prayers go out to the athlete, her family, and those in our CSU System family affected by this loss.
OUR FOOTBALL PROGRAM
As we sit here today, the fact of the matter is we are 0-2 on the football gridiron, and I can assure you no one is more anxious to get into the win column than our student-athletes, our coaches, and our administration. Our fans have shown up to cheer on and support our team, and that effort has not been rewarded. That is frustrating to all of us, especially our student-athletes.
When they run out of the tunnel to a packed stadium, it means the world to them, and I hope you will continue to show up to support your Rams.
I have seen first-hand the amount of effort they put in each week to go out onto the field and produce, and I know our coaches are working diligently to put together the right preparation and game plans to be successful.
To hear more from the students themselves I encourage you to listen to these clips from Saturday’s post-game press conference with quarterback Todd Centeio and linebacker Dequan Jackson, both captains of this 2021 squad.
CONGRATULATIONS KEELEY HAGEN AND WOMEN’S SOCCER
Congratulations are in order for one of the newest members of our staff, head women’s soccer coach Keeley Hagen, on her first victory as a head coach! Our women’s soccer team has been working incredibly hard on the practice pitch to get to this moment, and all their hard work culminated in a 6-0 victory on Sunday, Sept. 12 to get Coach Hagen her first victory.
Not only was it monumental in the respect of the first victory for Coach Hagen, the six goals scored were also the MOST scored in a single-game in program history. We’re all excited to continue to see their program grow and develop.
CONGRATULATIONS WOMEN’S AND MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY
One event down, two first place finishes! Our women’s and men’s cross country program kicked off their season on the right foot on Sept. 3 up the road in Laramie by taking first place in the Wyoming Invite. Our women’s program is ranked No. 26 nationally and No. 5 in the very competitive Mountain Region while the men are currently ranked No. 8 in the Mountain Region.
Congratulations to head coach Art Siemers and both programs on an excellent start to the 2021 season!
CONGRATULATIONS WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Our women’s volleyball program is on a four-game winning streak at the moment with wins over teams from the ACC (North Carolina State) and Pac-12 (Oregon State), and head coach Tom Hilbert got his 600th career victory as our head coach in that win over NC State!
They have two big matches this week against Colorado, including a match in Moby Arena on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the Golden Spike! I will talk about it more below, but attendance has been spectacular, especially from our students, and we need you there! The Rams currently rank No. 7 nationally in average attendance, and we all know Fort Collins loves supporting this team.
If you haven’t had a chance to make it to Moby Arena, Saturday is a match you don’t want to miss!
UNIVERSITY UPDATES FROM THE PRESIDENT’S ACTION PLAN
On Monday, the University published this Source article updating campus on steps taken to align us with the President’s Action Plan that came out of the Husch Blackwell investigation last summer. While the findings of the independent review were generally positive, the recommendations that came out of that review have given us the opportunity to engage more with our students to ensure they are having a safe, healthy, and successful experience while they are here at Colorado State.
Health and well-being are our top priorities. One important part of this commitment, reviewed in the Source article, is that often times the processes and the confidentiality required are challenging and make communicating updates on the grievance process difficult. As detailed in the Source article, once a report leaves Athletics, it is, by design, out of our hands. This is intentional and important for a comprehensive and independent review.
Please read the Source article to learn more about how the processes around submitting or referring reports function here at Colorado State University.
CONFERENCE EXPANSION AND RE-ALIGNMENT
As many of you have seen, conference expansion and re-alignment is back in the forefront of collegiate athletics as the Big 12 has replaced two outgoing schools (Texas and Oklahoma) with four schools – BYU, Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston.
Without saying too much, I will say this: Colorado State will always be heavily involved in any discussions that give us the opportunity to enhance our position in college athletics. We have a world-class university whose commitment to athletics is significant. We live in the best town in America, and we have a passionate, engaged base of fans, donors, and alumni who want to see Colorado State be successful.
I truly believe – as others have eluded – that the addition of those four schools was just the first step of many to come over the next few years, and we will always position ourselves to be included in discussions that allow Colorado State to be great.
STUDENT ATTENDANCE
As I mentioned above, our return to campus activities and fan attendance has been spectacular and a large part of that is in thanks to our students. Our first home volleyball match of the fall calendar, the White Out match vs. Northwestern, saw a near-record student turnout and the following week, our students shattered the attendance record for students at Canvas Stadium as over 12,500 students packed into the stadium to cheer on the Rams.
Then, this past week at football, we broke the 10,000-student mark yet again! We have Colorado coming to town this weekend for a volleyball match, and the numbers are already trending toward record-breaking territory so if you haven’t gotten your seat yet for this one, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible!
UPCOMING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION TRAINING
I want to also thank Dr. Albert Bimper and his staff for their efforts in scheduling our comprehensive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training for our entire department: student-athletes, coaches, administrators, and support staff.
This is important training for all of us as we continue to affirm our mission to Educate, Engage, and Excel. As Dr. Bimper says, our mission isn’t just a statement, it’s a daily habit, and we are excited to welcome Dr. Akilah Carter-Francique to campus. Dr. Carter-Francique is a prominent scholar and currently serves as the Executive Director for the Institute for the Study of Sport, Society and Social Change (ISSSSC) at San Jose State University.
THANK YOU!
Thank you again Rams fans for your incredible support through the first third of the fall calendar. We can go incredible places when we go there together, and I am excited to see where the remainder of the fall leads us and to get our winter sports competing.
Go Rams!
ANY QUESTIONS?
Thanks for following along Rams!
Joe Parker, Director of Athletics
from WordPress https://ift.tt/3nuZg8x
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment