NJCU to Celebrate Division III Week

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will unveil a five-part student-athlete video series, hold a basketball and soccer clinic with a local school and participate in a documentary screening/panel discussion that combats sexual assault on college campuses as part of the fifth annual celebration of 2016 NCAA Division III Week, which runs from April 4-10.

Beginning on Monday, NJCU will unveil a new student-athlete profile video each day with five selected student athletes-women's soccer sophomore Laura Bustamante (Rockaway, N.J./Butler), women's bowling freshman Autumn Fortunato (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville), men's basketball junior Justin Foster (Jersey City, NJ/Randolph), women's volleyball junior Elyssa Magee (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) and baseball sophomore Dmitri Rueger (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck). Each student-athlete will tell the viewer about their lives, why they chose to be a Division III student-athlete and how that experience has made a difference in their lives.

On Wednesday, April 6 at 4 p.m., the NJCU Speicher-Rubin Women's Center will hold a screening and panel discussion on the sexual assault awareness month documentary 'It Happened Here.' The documentary tells the story of an endemic problem at American colleges. It will be held in the Gilligan Student Union Building Multipurpose Room A and will feature activist, nurse and public speaker Kylie Angell. NJCU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is also involved with the initiative as part of the "It's On Us" campaign-a pledged the national SAAC took promising to keep all people safe from sexual assault. The event is co-sponsored by the NJCU Department of Athletics, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Office of Residence Life.

The week will conclude with a special basketball and soccer clinic on Friday, April 8 from 10-11:30 a.m. at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center gymnasium. Approximately 40 fourth grade students from Jersey City Public School #25 will participate. The event is co-hosted by ninth-year NJCU head men's basketball coach Marc Brown-the 2016 New Jersey Athletic Conference Coach of the Year-first-year women's basketball coach Robyn Burton and fourth-year head men's soccer coach Patrick Snyder. 

Meanwhile, NJCU will play host to several home sporting events during the week. The Gothic Knight softball team is home for an NJAC doubleheader with Ramapo College on Tuesday, April 5 at 3 p.m. at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. Men's Volleyball will host Pratt Institute on Thursday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. and honor its five-man senior class prior to the contest. The baseball team, enjoying its best start to a season in 36 years, will host Rutgers-Newark on Friday, April 8 at 3:30 p.m.

Since 2012, Division III Week is a positive opportunity for all individuals associated with Division III to observe and celebrate the impact of athletics and of student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community. During the week, every Division III school and conference office is encouraged to conduct a type of outreach activity that falls into one of three categories: academic accomplishment; athletic experience; or leadership/community service/campus involvement.

The event is part of Division III's Identity Initiative, which was introduced in 2010 to sharpen the division's identity and to enable schools and conferences to more effectively explain why they prefer to compete in Division III. The initiative has been guided by a strategic-positioning platform, describing Division III as a place where student-athletes can "follow your passions and develop your potential," within an approach that combines rigorous academics, competitive sports and an opportunity to pursue other interests.

- www.njcugothicknights.com | @NJCU_Athletics-