A new kind of teammate: Mount pairs faculty mentors with athletic teams
It goes without saying that being a student-athlete at the Mount takes devotion and hard work.
Now a new initiative, piloted in the Fall 2024 semester, is showing these athletes how dedicated the college is to their success, both on and off the field.
The Knights Faculty Teammates program, spearheaded by Athletics Director Shane Bell ’06, endeavors to pair each of the Mount’s athletics teams with a faculty mentor.
These faculty mentors “are a part of the team,” explained Bell. “They’re an extension of the coaching staff. They work with the student-athletes on their academics if they need help, being a mentoring resource, a career resource, and cheering them on at games.”
Bell knows firsthand the challenges of maintaining academic excellence while also excelling athletically, and created Knights Faculty Teammates to give current students the boost they might need – even if that’s just in the form of having a dedicated fan cheering for them in the stands.
“I want our athletes to know that there are people here that care and want to help them,” said Bell. “I was a student-athlete here [as a Mount student] and your time is so committed to your sport that sometimes, you don’t always know there’s people here that understand what you're going through and can assist you.”
One of the first professors to join the program was Jen Bready, Interim Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Education and Professor of Mathematics, who was the faculty teammate on the Women’s Soccer team. The decision to join the program was easy: Bready’s sons played soccer growing up and she found that she missed the “soccer mom” life, she explained.
Many of the soccer players were also students in her Math courses, and Bready quickly bonded with the other athletes as well. It didn’t take long before she took on a mother-like role for the team.
Bready would ride with the team to their away games and attend their home games. And if she couldn’t make it to an away game due to an academic commitment, Bready would meet the team as they got on the bus and hand out homemade cookies.
It was an extremely positive experience, Bready said: “When I went to the games, I felt really connected to the team. I really enjoyed it.”
Plans are already underway to continue the Knight Faculty Teammates program in the Spring 2025 semester, with additional faculty and team pairings.
