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Q
&
A
WI TH
REYNA GILBERT-LOWRY
SENIOR ASSOCIATE ATHLET ICS DIRECTOR FOR STUDENT-ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT
Q: How has your role in the athletics
department evolved in the past several years?
When I started almost ten years ago my focus was
on providing personal development programming
and providing opportunities for student-athletes to
engage in community outreach. Over the last few
years, the national dialogue within intercollegiate
athletics has shifted to highlight student-athlete
well-being and my role, and that of my team, has
transformed into providing Virginia Tech student-
athletes with a foundation for success at the
university level and beyond. We understand the
challenges of balancing academics and athletics
at the Division I level. I enjoy each opportunity I
have to help student-athletes successfully balance
those time demands while also establishing post-
graduate career goals in the process.
In 2014 I assumed sport oversight of women’s
soccer and have been fortunate enough to work
with an extremely talented group of young women
and a coaching staff who are both committed to
excellence athletically and academically.
Q: What are some of the new programs and
initiatives your area has been working on?
This year we have focused on enhancing our
sexual assault/relationship violence prevention and
education programming. Our staff has implemented
the One Love Escalation Workshop training with
all teams which is designed to raise awareness
about relationship violence and create a safe
space for students to discuss issues of unhealthy
relationships.Wehavealsoexpanded the leadership
development opportunities for our student-athletes
by introducing the Leadership Culture, a speaker-
series designed to expose the student-athletes
to high-level concepts on leadership. In addition,
we have implemented the Global Sports Program,
which offers student-athletes a for-credit study
abroad opportunity geared toward those who wish
to better understand the positive and humanitarian
role sport can play in international development
and society.
Q: How important is it for student-athletes
to be involved in the community, both on
campus and regionally?
With
Ut Prosim
at our core, the Office of Student-
Athlete Development assists student-athletes
in taking advantage of the many opportunities to
volunteer throughout their college experience.
Involvement in these initiatives helps maintain and
improve the positive relationship between student-
athletes and the surrounding community and
allows student-athletes to invest in a community
who is passionate about supporting Virginia Tech
athletics. Community involvement also provides
opportunities for student-athletes to interact with
individuals from diverse backgrounds and builds
camaraderie and teamwork which only complement
their student-athletes experience at Virginia Tech.
Q: How has the growth of your department
increased the availability of good deeds you
are able to involve the student-athletes?
It is no secret that our Director of Athletics, Whit
Babcock, values the student-athlete experience
and works to ensure that the culture the Virginia
Tech Department of Athletics aligns with those
values on a daily basis. Whit has been extremely
supportive of our department and our vision and,
as such, has allowed us to increase our staff over
the past two years. As such, each team member
has been able to dedicate more time to specific
student-athlete development areas (career,
leadership and community outreach) and we have,
in turn, been able to enhance the programs and
services provided to student-athletes.
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