Being a college student-athlete can be a valuable experience, yet not everything can be learned in class or competition. So William & Mary launched Excel, a program that focuses on comprehensive development, in May 2023.
Excel went into effect last fall under Jasmine Perkins, assistant athletics director for student-athlete development. With student-athletes learning how to lead and prepare for life beyond college, it quickly began making a difference.
“The overall goal is to provide opportunities to support our student-athletes holistically through the three main doors we focus on in this office, which are career preparation, leadership development, and community service,” Perkins said. “By the time William & Mary athletes graduate, they will be prepared for lifelong success.”
“I think William & Mary students are different compared to some other schools. They care, they show up for Student Athlete Advisory Council meetings and they come engaged with ideas. That makes my job a lot more enjoyable because we have a great group of student-athletes.”
Tribe athletics director Brian Mann considers Excel vital to student-athlete development.
“With all the things that are happening in college athletics, where we should chart a path is by doubling down on the things that make us unique,” he said. “And what makes us unique is the education we have available for our student-athletes, the community that we have around them and our ability to develop them as human beings.
“Jasmine understood that from day one and has done a great job of not only implementing the program but also building on relationships across campus and our community to make sure we’re capitalizing on the larger William & Mary community. She’s done that effectively.”
Through the program’s three main doors, Excel hit the ground running.
For career preparation, Perkins relied heavily on Kelly O’Shaughnessy, director of Career Readiness Pathways. She held multiple workshops with different teams, reminding each athlete that the career center is available from their freshman year through graduation.
Perkins said O’Shaughnessy hosted more than 190 one-on-one career advising appointments and spoke with at least one athlete per sport.
There also have been SAAC-sponsored workshops, including one that focused on LinkedIn and another involving resume preparation.
As for leadership development, student-athletes met with former golfer and soccer player William Smith ’14, who has founded multiple non-profits that have helped build schools for underserved children. Perkins said meeting a humanitarian leader who was doing so much at such a young age strongly impacted the student-athletes.
Another workshop was hosted by Kathy Carter ’91, former CEO of the organizing committee for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Among other messages, she stressed the importance of women in leadership roles.
An etiquette dinner sponsored by the Society of 1918 and facilitated by Kathleen Powell, chief career officer and associate vice president for advancement, was particularly well received. Student-athletes met and dined with W&M alums and learned proper protocol during business meals, along with interviewing and networking skills.
“We also started the financial literacy workshop this year in partnership with the Financial Literacy Program at the business school,” said Cole Harris, a senior track and field athlete and president of SAAC.
“We had some student-athletes come in and talk about how to budget and manage your money and how to save. All those things are super helpful. It’s really great we have an avenue to help student-athletes prepare themselves for life after college.”
Some athletes attended conferences, where they compared notes with peers from other schools. Harris and senior Sofia Istnick, SAAC’s mental health and wellness chair, participated in the annual CAA Leadership Summit last month in Richmond.
William & Mary also sent four representatives — Hollis Mathis (football), Trenton Peazant (men’s gymnastics), Talia Anderson (track) and Yaelle Viassaud (women’s tennis) — to the Black Student Athlete Summit in Los Angeles. Amy Schwem (volleyball) and Eme Schmittel (field hockey) attended the Athlete Activism Summit in Louisville, Ky.
“It’s important to have William & Mary represented at these nationally recognized conferences and to have them around like-minded student-athletes who are doing meaningful work on their campus,” Perkins said. “They learn what other students are doing on their campus, what Tribe athletics is doing well, and how we can improve the student-athlete experience at William & Mary.”
Perkins said the most popular events involved community service. Athletes have worked with the Alzheimer’s Association and Fear 2 Freedom, a non-profit that supports sexual assault victims.
There was Holly Days, an annual event that helps families in need during the holiday season. There was a partnership with House of Mercy, which aids the homeless. And volunteering at local elementary schools, where the athletes read to the children or even serve as a teacher’s assistant.
“We’re very committed to our schoolwork and our sport — for me, personally, I came here to run and get my degree,” said Istnick, who competes in track and cross country.
“The Excel program has showed me how we can connect with people and share our time and energy with those around us. It really shows there’s more to life than being an athlete and getting an education. There are connections you form with people and being a part of the world.”
Excel’s inaugural year not only was a success, it raised the bar for 2024-25. Tribe athletes can’t wait to clear it.
“We learned a lot, and we had a lot of great success,” Harris said. “But we’ve also learned how much more we’re capable of as an organization.”
Istnick agrees. “We have some great ideas for the upcoming year,” she said.
