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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STANFORD ATHLETICS SHOWS COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY WITH THE LAUNCH OF ITS EXPANDED COMMUNITY RELATIONS PROGRAM

New Partnership Established with Haas Center for Public Service

September 19, 2011 - Stanford, CA - September is the start of the fall sports season at Stanford and also marks the launch of Stanford Athletics' new Stand Tall. Stand Proud. community relations program which consists of several initiatives including a service engagement program, a speaker's bureau, as well as the expansion of its donation request and ticket gift-back programs. The new program reflects the department's commitment to creating strong connections and collaboration with the surrounding community.

"Stanford Athletics is committed to strengthening its community partnerships," said Bob Bowlsby, the Jaquish & Kenninger Director of Athletics. "Through our new partnership with the Haas Center for Public Service, we are able to expand our community relations efforts giving our student-athletes additional opportunities to engage in meaningful and relevant programs that support our local community."

One of the new initiatives, Cardinal for the Community (C4C) is a service engagement program spearheaded by the Cardinal Council, Stanford's branch of the national Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and supported by Stanford Athletics and the Haas Center for Public Service. In its first year, C4C will engage in 10 one-day service projects that respond to the needs of the community while providing student-athletes the opportunity to learn and pursue areas of social relevance. For example, in August, Stanford Men's Soccer and Women's Volleyball kicked off the C4C program with Palo Alto's Opportunity Center.

"We are really excited to launch Cardinal for the Community and give student-athletes new opportunities to get involved in the community," said Senior Men's Soccer player and Cardinal Council President Clayton Holz. "We have wanted to create a volunteer program that enables student-athletes to give back to the community, so getting C4C going is a great thing."

To further support the community, Stanford Athletics will roll out a Speakers Bureau program which coordinates community speaking engagements with coaches, administrators, and student-athletes, as well as the introduction of an online resource center for community groups to access. The resource center will include lesson plan suggestions, worksheets, and public service videos featuring student-athletes and coaches addressing key life skills to help youth become champions in various areas of their lives. The first edition of this series focuses on goal setting and achieving goals. A new topic will be released each academic quarter.

Stanford Athletics will also maintain existing initiatives including the expansion of its ticket gift back program which provides donated tickets from ticket buyers to Bay Area non-profits, as well as fulfilling donation requests from local non-profits, which in 2010-2011 resulted in satisfying more than 300 requests.

For more information on Stanford Athletics' Community Relations efforts, and to view a photo gallery and recaps from past events, visit gostanford.com/community.