Virginia's Jen Gardner to Address NCAA Leadership Advisory Board of Directors

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Oct. 31, 2003

Virginia’s Jen Gardner, a former member of the UVa Track and Field team, will address the NCAA Leadership Advisory Board of Directors meeting next Friday, Nov 7, at the USA Today headquarters in McLean, Va. Gardner, who participated as a UVa representative at the NCAA Leadership Conference in both 2002 and 2003, was selected along with two other student-athletes to make this presentation to the board.

Gardner was a member of UVa’s Student-Athlete Mentor (SAM) Council and was a member of SAC, the Student-Athlete Council, during her years of participation on the track and field team. She is currently in her fifth year in the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education.

“Jen was an outstanding student leader whose organizational skills were the very best and whose participation in the leadership conference broadened her abilities even more,” said Phil Gates, UVa’s Life Skills Coordinator.

The NCAA Leadership Conference is an extension of the NCAA’s successful CHAMPS/Life Skills Program-a development program structured to prepare student-athletes for graduation and success in life.

The 28-member NCAA Leadership Advisory Board provides an important leadership perspective from outside the NCAA governance structure. This includes efforts to inform the public about the NCAA’s role in preparing student-athletes for productive and meaningful lives through athletics and higher education. In addition, the board provides broad-based advice and counsel to the NCAA president reflective of each individual’s background and experiences of the general public at large, regarding public issues in intercollegiate athletics.