Amy Folan's Maroon & Gold Memo: Celebration, New Leadership and Development

Celebrating Success
One of my favorite times of the year is our Chippewa Academic and Athletic Awards. This is a special time when we honor our student-athletes for their hard work on and off the field and court, as well as our teams and coaches, and celebrate exciting times in our program.

These awards recognize individuals who excel in their sport and in their field of study, including newcomers of the year, player of the year, top scholar athletes from each sport, academic achievement awards, teammate of the year, and male and female athletes of the year.

The volleyball team was recognized with the Dick Enberg Team Leadership Award and the softball and volleyball teams both were awarded the Community Impact Award. Receiving the Outstanding Team GPA Award were the women's cross country team with a GPA of 3.81, and the men's cross country team with a GPA of 3.39. Our gymnastics team, which recently captured its second consecutive Mid-American Conference championship, was named Team of the Year.

I was proud to present the Athletic Director Leadership Award to Garrett Navarra from baseball and Hannah DeMers from gymnastics. We also celebrated our Moment of the Year — the men's basketball toilet paper toss game vs. Western Michigan — and our Game of the Year, men's basketball's win over the University of Michigan.

Congratulations to all of our student-athletes, coaches and teams for success this past year!

CMU's leading the way in women's basketball
This past month has been a whirlwind, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to represent CMU throughout the women's national championship as part of the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee.

While I was lucky enough to witness amazing basketball, I was even more proud to keep CMU women's basketball at the forefront and meet with many CMU Chippewas along the way. This included Roy Kramer, legendary football coach, at the first and second rounds in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Judy Van Horn, CMU alum and deputy AD at the University of South Carolina, in the NCAA Regional in Greenville, South Carolina, and at the Final Four in Dallas. It was also amazing to see and celebrate the success of Coach Raina Harmon and player Molly Davis, both former CMU Chippewas now with the University of Iowa.

As for leadership in Mount Pleasant, I'm thrilled to welcome Kristin Haynie as our new head women's basketball coach. Kristin is no stranger to CMU — she was an assistant coach under Sue Guevara from 2014-2017, helping lead the CMU Chippewas to the 2017 Mid-American Conference championship.

Kristin is not only coming home to CMU but also to Michigan. She's a native of Mason and a Michigan State alum, where she was a standout player. Soon after her time as a Spartan, she was drafted by the Sacramento Monarchs and helped them capture the WNBA title in her first season as a pro. She has since coached with the Women's National Basketball Association's Minnesota Lynx and at her alma mater MSU, where she spent the past four seasons under head coach and Central Michigan graduate Suzy Merchant.

Kristin's expertise, dedication and passion are exactly what CMU Athletics looks for in its leaders. I'm excited to see what our women's basketball program will achieve with her at the helm.

Help developing our student-athletes
Most of you have heard me talk about how important it is to CMU Athletics that we develop our student-athletes in every aspect of their lives, not just on the court or field. Our team is dedicated to several key areas, which I want to share with you.

Personal enhancement — We focus on aspects such as health and well-being, values, financial literacy, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
Leadership development — Opportunities include a series and retreat focused on leadership, as well as our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
Career development — Our student-athletes can participate in career assessments and consulting, networking and mock interview events, learn about personal branding and appropriate dress, as well as career fairs and a career exploration trip.
Community outreach — Commitment to our community is vital for CMU Athletics and expected of our student-athletes. They join reading tours, act as mentors, participate in service learning trips and after school programs, just to name a few.

If you're interested in partnering with us to help provide this personalized development for our student-athletes through a sponsorship, reach out to Deputy Athletic Director Chris Walker at walke11c@cmich.edu. Thank you for your continued support of CMU Athletics!

Fire Up Chips!

Amy Folan's Maroon & Gold Memo: Celebration, New Leadership and Development

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