The women’s basketball team had a Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night game on Feb. 8. This allowed for the recognition of different faculty and staff who work around campus, and it gave them a chance to come and see a free sporting event.
“This is an opportunity to celebrate our faculty and staff and provide them an opportunity to come to the game for free,” said Quentin Payton, the senior associate AD for brand development and fan experience. “It’s a way to recognize how important the faculty and staff are on campus and what they do for the student-athletes.”
The women’s basketball players went out around campus that week and provided some of their favorite faculty and staff with free tickets to come to the game. ACU Athletics wants to provide a way to take care of them and let them have a fun night where they can come and enjoy the women’s basketball team.
“The faculty and staff don’t get free tickets for a majority of the sporting events,” Victor Ortiz, the director of marketing for ACU Athletics. “So what better way to recognize them than inviting them to a game, giving them a free seat, and also having a recognition for them?”
Ortiz works with Vic McCracken, the faculty athletic representative, in the case of guest coaches, which are faculty and staff members nominated by the student-athletes of the respective team. McCracken offers the faculty and staff exclusive opportunities the day before and the day after to interact with the student-athletes. An example was when he invited the faculty and staff to a team’s practices before the game and got to meet the players, as well as recognized them on the court the day of the game.
The faculty and staff that are recognized and brought to the game come down to the court wearing various spirit attire. They are also on the camera and video board, and they do a PA announcement for them. There were also some unique recognitions.
“For us, we create a baseline of what’s realistic that we can do for them,” Ortiz said. “Definitely within this next year, it becomes more of a season-by-season event where every sport has that promotion where we’re doing things, but we’re continuously adding opportunities of what we can do to make our faculty and staff feel a little more special.”
