General | 10/2/2023 2:35:00 PM

The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) recently announced the creation of a new Student-Athlete Emerging Leaders program for the 2023-24 academic year. This inaugural program will include 23 student-athletes representing all 11 WAC institutions. 

Student-athletes from WAC member institutions that are non-WAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representatives were selected to the initial roster of conference emerging leaders.
 
Utah Tech will be represented by junior women's soccer student-athlete Kalea Woodyatt, and sophomore men's soccer student-athlete Ethan Bell.    
 
Woodyatt and Bell, along with the 21 other WAC student-athletes included in the first group of emerging leaders, were chosen by athletics administrators at their respective campuses. This first-year group will be under the stewardship of WAC Associate Commissioner for Compliance and Governance Marlon Edge.
 
The WAC Student-Athlete Emerging Leaders, along with WAC SAAC, will participate in year-long programming as part of the WAC Career and Leadership Professional Development Series throughout the 2023-24 academic year. The series is an academic initiative that aims to improve student-athlete mental health, financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills by connecting with professionals in each field.
 
The initial online workshop of the professional development series that featured WAC Commissioner Brian Thornton as guest speaker was held on Sept. 24. 

Three additional workshops are scheduled through the end of the spring 2024 semester that will allow the combined student-athlete leadership groups to establish and build relationships with the chief diversity officers on WAC member campuses, while cultivating a strategy for continued growth of the program.