A moment to celebrate: SMC Women’s Soccer in a matchup against LMU. A new initiative led by SMC will support programs across the country to bolster inspiration, inclusion, and involvement. / Photo by Tod Fierner for SMC Athletics
Live Like You Play: Saint Mary’s to Lead Nationwide Sport at the Service of Humanity Higher Education Initiative
A $350,000 grant from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation enables SMC to advance higher education initiatives related to sport, spirituality, and character development. It builds on the College’s leadership in transformative education.
Saint Mary’s College of California has been tapped to lead a nationwide higher education initiative championing character development, sport, and care for the whole student. Partnering with the Sport at the Service of Humanity Foundation, the College will provide leadership and guidance for this initiative. And, thanks to a $350,000 grant from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Foundation, Saint Mary’s will also serve as a hub for information, advice, and grants to other institutions developing programs aligned with the mission of the initiative.
The Sport at the Service of Humanity movement is not just national in scale but global. It was launched during the 2016 Global Conference on Faith and Sport at the Vatican. It invites faith, sport, and education leaders from diverse traditions worldwide to embody the motto: Live Like You Play!
“Saint Mary’s, with its Lasallian Catholic traditions, and its history of academic and athletic excellence, make it an obvious leader in this growing movement.”
The SMC co-led effort will do this by providing grants to institutes of higher education to develop coursework, co-curricular programs, and service projects that meaningfully reflect the core pillars of the Sport at the Service of Humanity Movement: Inspiration, Inclusion, and Involvement.
A Leader in a Growing Movement
At Saint Mary’s, the Sport at the Service of Humanity Higher Education Initiative will be administered through the Office of Mission under Vice President for Mission Frances Sweeney ’86 with hands-on direction by Mission Fellow for Athletics Mary Volmer ’01, MFA ’05. Funding will also be used to conduct a survey on the status of sports in higher education nationwide, a research database, and to facilitate cross-campus collaborations in an effort to better serve the spiritual, academic, and athletic needs of Saint Mary’s students.
“Saint Mary’s, with its Lasallian Catholic traditions, and its history of academic and athletic excellence, make it an obvious leader in this growing movement,” says Philip Leopold, CEO of the Sport For Humanity Foundation. “We couldn’t be happier with the partnership."
Volmer is also on the faculty at Saint Mary’s and is a former student-athlete herself, having come to college with a basketball scholarship. The author of two novels, she now counsels and attends to the spiritual well-being of student-athletes and coaches. And she agrees wholeheartedly that the initiative plays to the College’s strengths.
“Having witnessed the transformative power of sport firsthand as a student-athlete and as a professor and lay chaplain, it’s an honor to lead this initiative,” Volmer says. “It complements our commitment to a holistic and transformative education, and allows us to collaborate and learn from a diverse community of students, educators, and coaches nationwide.”
Michael Galligan-Stierle, former President of the Association of Catholic Colleges & Universities, and a working group from Saint Mary’s composed of faculty, staff and students, will advise the undertaking.
For more information or to apply for a grant, visit the SSH Higher Education Initiative Website. Questions? Contact Mary Volmer.
