FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Atlantic Sun Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) announced Florida Gulf Coast University's Jaci Carpenter as one of the five new officers for the 2024-25 academic year.  Carpenter was chosen by her peers and all the SAAC delegates will represent the conference at both the national level as well as on their campuses.

She is currently the president of the FGCU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (formerly known as the Eagles Council) and works with her peers to be the voice of student-athletes and enhance the student-athlete experience at FGCU.

Specifically this year, she led two community service initiatives, a canned food drive and a youth impact initiative with New Image Youth Center that involved a field day with students from the organization and FGCU student-athletes. Carpenter also ran the social media account, creating content. She created and organized all meeting agendas, sent out communications to all athletes, and was the main line of contact from student-athletes to the administration. 

Carpenter will serve her first year as ASUN SAAC Chair. The upcoming senior has been a mainstay on the Eagles' campus as part of the hazing prevention team and representing student-athletes on the Athletic Director hiring panel.

"I believe in the power of SAAC and want to continue to work with my peers to make sure that we can continue to be good representatives on behalf of ourselves, our institutions, and the conference as a whole and make an impact on our communities," said Carpenter.

Over the past year, ASUN SAAC has been an integral piece of the league's governance process by providing feedback and insight on many conference proposals. The group keyed on two initiatives during the year focusing on their canned food drive and youth engagement in their local communities. SAAC was also instrumental in the conference adopting QPR training for its staff and team leaders. The Question, Persuade, Refer program offers all athletics staff the tools and knowledge to identify warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond.
 
2024-25 ASUN Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Officers
Ashley Cozad, North Florida (Swimming & Diving) - NCAA Division I SAAC Representative
Jaci Carpenter, FGCU (Beach Volleyball) - ASUN SAAC Chair
Grace Clark, EKU (Women's Golf) - ASUN SAAC Vice Chair
Dylan Anthony, Stetson (Softball) - ASUN SAAC Secretary
Scotty McKenzie, Lipscomb (Cross Country), Social Media Coordinator