When Xavier King takes to the track representing ACU men in Cross Country, a 1987 graduate who lives 350 miles away is praying for him.
Lowell Good, a high school counselor in Lake Jackson, is one of many alumni who are part of a program to connect graduates with student athletes through prayer.
Good and several other alumni received an email this year with the name, sport and hometown of an athlete they are to pray for. Good said the reaction to the program has been positive.
“Friends of mine who don’t even have a connection with ACU thought it was a great idea,” he said.
The effort is part of a fundraising project in the Department of Athletics, which has hired Pursuant Sports to help the department better tell its story and connecting it better with alumni and donor bases.
Athletic Director Jared Mosley saw a presentation by Dallas-based fundraising firm a year ago about its “plant your flag” campaign. That campaign helps athletic offices connect with and expand their following among alumni and fans and includes surveys and other information.
However, Mosley said the university saw more potential when it launched the program this summer.
“We reached out to Pursuant to do a ‘plant your flag’ campaign,” he said. “We wanted take something that we feel is important by allowing them to take the names of our student athletes and sending them to people who plant their flag.
The only stipulation in it is that we hope they take the name of the student athlete and pray over them and their experience this year.”
Mosley said alumni and fans and praying for athletes competing in such sports as cross country, soccer and football, and he said the response has been positive.
In fact, many alumni have reached out to the athletes via email to let them know they are praying over their lives, he said.
For his part, Good said this effort could be used as a recruiting tool — within and beyond athletics.
“I think it is a great idea and really shows what ACU stands for and what makes it different from the other D1 schools it will be competing against,” Good said. “What parent wouldn’t want alumni praying for their children? Maybe ACU should start doing it for all their students.”
