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Sand, turf and sweat: Intramural season has arrived

By Celeste Fendt

At Spring Arbor University (SAU), intramurals are not all about winning. They are recreational sports outside of the school’s athletic department meant to bring people together and grow the community. In addition to the healthy competition, intramurals promote exercise and outreach among students, since students from all grades can participate, including commuters.

“Our goal is to foster community and bring people together from different areas of campus to provide fun and exciting events,” Cecilia (C.C.) Said, the Intramural Director for the Student Government Association (SGA), said.

Teams are determined by SGA and are generally split up by floor, house or wing. However, some sports, like ultimate frisbee and basketball, give students the option of creating a co-ed team. Commuters also have their own team, but an individual commuter student may be drafted by another group. Faculty members, their spouses or even the president can be drafted as well.

Each season typically runs for three to four weeks. One or two weeks at the end are reserved for a single or double elimination tournament, depending on the sport and the student turnout.

Said has been involved with intramurals since her freshman year. For her first two years at SAU, Said took on the role of floor captain for the dorm she lived in.

Because of her love for sports, Said decided to apply for the Intramural Programmer position for her junior year, which is more hands-on.

“[The programmers are] the ones who are out on the field making sure that everything’s going well,” she said.

Now, as a senior, Said is the Director of Intramurals for SGA. Her job consists of creating schedules for all the intramural sports seasons and making sure the intramural mission is carried out.

Said encourages all students to participate. “We’re all there to just have a good time and make new friends,” she said. “Just go for it.”

The first intramural event, the Block Party, includes sand volleyball and basketball tournaments. It will take place on Saturday, Sept. 9. The first day of the sand volleyball season is the following Monday, Sept. 11.

For more information on how to become involved, come to the first volleyball game, visit the SAU app or contact an SGA representative.

Extended SGA President and VP Q&A

By Elise Emmert
This is an extended version of our interview with Richard Harris and Catherine Galloway, the newly-elected SGA President and Vice President.

By Elise Emmert

This is an extended version of our interview with Richard Harris and Catherine Galloway, the newly-elected SGA President and Vice President. To read the rest of the interview, check out page five of The Pulse.

The Pulse (TP): How do you think your involvements in activities on campus, like Enactus and in the Office of Intercultural Relations (OIR), have prepared you for this leadership role?

Catherine Galloway (CG): I feel like being an Intercultural Advisor (IA) has given me a look into what leadership looks like on campus, around events, what weekly meetings look like, and what the structure on campus looks like.

Richard Harris (RH): In Enactus we do a lot of stuff in the Jackson community, so I have that relationship outside of Spring Arbor. That helped me build relationships within the school because not everybody in Enactus is a business major. So that branches me out beyond what I’m studying, and helps me develop more friendships.

TP: What skills do you think you bring to the table, other than what you have learned in Enactus and as an IA?

RH: Personally, I believe our social skills. If you can’t really tell we’re people’s people, and we’re very outgoing. That could actually be a big factor when it comes to standing in advocacy for certain things that the student body wants.

CG: I feel like working for OIR here and doing three and a half years of missions in high school in another country has taught me about what diversity looks like, even on a campus like this, and how to pull it together. (It taught me how to) be able to listen to students and be able to hear what they want and where they’re coming from.

RH: That amplification of diversity is something that we really enjoy, obviously, in ourselves. I’m an African-American male, if nobody knew that (laughs). That’s part of who I am, but that’s literally just one part of who I am. The other sides of who I am, I am a spiritual believer, I have a solid foundation in Christ, I love God with all my heart, mind, and soul, and I plan to radiate that love in this position.

TP: How do you plan to show Christ through your administration?

RH: I would really love to amplify the knowledge of Christian ministries that are here on a Christian university. There’s so many, and I believe the only thing that’s lacking is on the student’s part. There’s a lot of phenomenal ministries, they just need student participation.

New SGA President and VP Q&A (extras)

You may have already seen Joey Dearduff (JD) and Alessandra Varelis’s (AV) interview in the current issue of “The Pulse” (go and pick up a copy if you haven’t yet!). Here a couple of extra questions that didn’t make it past the editing and cutting down process.

The Pulse (TP): What are some of the main goals you want to accomplish as president and vice president?

JD: Our slogan for the campaign and what it will be for SGA as a whole next year, is “Believe, belong, beyond.” Those three words encapsulate what we want to continue on campus and what we want to push for even more next year. Believe is Alessandra’s and my rootedness in Christ’s transformative power and the university’s desire to pursue Him, love Him and serve Him. Our belief in that empowers us to belong and to go beyond. What we desire for this campus next year is to belong, to build support among and between communities. Like Alessandra mentioned, empowering the people who feel as though their voice isn’t heard. To let them know that it is heard. So, belonging. Having people on campus know that they’re loved and taking that fellowship and that love we have for each other and having it transcend outside of these boundaries, outside of the Spring Arbor bubble into the world around us. That looks like service and worshipping not just in Chapel, and inviting the community here and going out and loving the community.

TP: Have Ty and Holly given you guys any advice on what to expect?

AV: We’ve talked a lot with them. They’re great and very encouraging. They’ve said if we have any questions we can call, email or text them; even next year, when they’re gone, if we need any help or advice. I’ve met with Holly and she told me the beginning of the year is super busy so make sure we take the summer and plan and think through things, which is helpful because a lot goes on in the beginning of the year.

JD: Ty has been very encouraging but also very real. He mentioned the campaign and how exhausting it would be and how taxing. When I was elected, he pulled me aside and congratulated me and said, “Hey man, just know that when times get rough, and they will get rough, I’ll be here for you.” I’ve been communicating with Steven Hlatky, who was the student body president my freshman year, and we built a relationship my freshman year. Even Ben Frederick here and there a little bit. It’s been really cool how encouraging, how supportive, and how real current and past presidents and vice presidents have been for us.

By Amber Cekander

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