The mission for intercollegiate
athletics at Lewis & Clark College is to improve the quality of
students' lives. For student-athletes, this will be accomplished
through the medium of sport by providing them with the opportunity
to participate in an activity that encourages personal growth and
character development. For the campus community, this will be
accomplished through shared institutional pride, fun and excitement
resulting from the efforts and accomplishments of individual
athletes and the college teams they represent.
The objective is for student-athletes
to create bonds that last a lifetime by developing the good and
unique person and inspiring and helping others to do the same.
Values
It is essential for Lewis & Clark College athletes to
understand and strive to master the concepts embodied in the core
values of effort, teamwork, competition,
self-confidence, integrity, balance and
scholarship.
Making an effort to excel, working
hard and intelligently to achieve excellence is primary. The
teachings of sport can only be learned when one dares to put forth
a full effort. The ability to channel energy and focus positively
describe and are essential to intelligent effort.
Freely disseminating information to assist teammates to improve
and freely accepting information from your teammates to help
yourself get better are basic elements of
teamwork. By being this kind of teammate,
each athlete contributes to the team beyond the number of points
they score. When this occurs, the value of a
team becomes greater than the sum of its
parts.
The value of competition lies not in
winning or losing, but learning to adapt to, persevere through and
thereby overcome the pressures that result from it. Adaptation and
perseverance will be the qualities that define all lifetime
development, success and achievement.
Self-confidence is a key element of
growth. It enables athletes to move forward in light of physical
discomfort, psychological barriers, disappointment or
accomplishment, all circumstances encountered regularly in sport
and life.
Personal and team development in sport is a process that
requires integrity. This means abiding by
the rules of the sport and taking responsibility for ones actions,
even those results one would like to blame on the opponent,
officials, equipment or weather.
Balancing the many aspects of a
student-athletes life from sport, to academics, to social
responsibilities, and community involvement, will lead to the
greatest all-around development of the person.
Student-athletes will strive to be
scholars in the classroom, of their
sport, and in their life's endeavors. By doing so they will come to
know the world and people around them and more importantly, they
will come to know themselves.
These values of sport lie in striving
to do it well, from the basic fundamentals of movement, strength
and conditioning to difficult and complex strategies, techniques
and human dynamics. Doing sport well, experiencing success is
essential to learning and a complete education through sport,
requires the positive feedback that comes with significant
accomplishment.
Sport offers quantitative measures by which one can judge how
well the sport was performed. Student-athletes, by practice and
training in an integrated collegiate environment, learn the habits
(values) that lead to performing well. What they then find is it is
these same habits that lead to performing well in other areas of
life that may not offer immediate quantifiable feedback.
The source of success in sport is sometimes attributable to
intangibles or unknown sources. As a unique human endeavor, sport
performances are often subject to unpredictable and powerful
sources of motivation, strength or endurance. Preparing the mind
and body in order to be postured for exceptional performance when
the opportunity presents itself requires something like faith or
trust. Being "centered," "freed" or "in the zone" leading to
success is likely the mastery and/or or the alignment of the core
values of sport.
Sharing with others and celebrating the fun and excitement
associated with and at the core of sport is integral to
intercollegiate athletics at Lewis & Clark College.
Foundation
Intercollegiate athletics at Lewis & Clark College will
be:
Conducted in an enlightened academic
atmosphere in which the campus community will
demonstrate an understanding of and respect for the educational
value of participation in varsity athletics and in which
student-athletes complete their academic programs at rates
comparable to their peers.
Governed by all applicable regulations and
principles in which no athletic outcome can be
justified by the intentional violation of any rule or policy as set
forth by NCAA principles of sportsmanship, ethical conduct,
compliance and amateurism.
Operated to promote the physical and emotional
health and secure the
safety of all participants.
Organized to provide high caliber, equitable,
diverse and broad-based athletic experiences that
correspond with the interests of the student population, the
Northwest Conference and NCAA Division III.
Managed to provide a link between the College and
its' various constituencies by bonding different
generations of students and alumni with the institutional pride
that comes through the accomplishments of student-athletes and
teams.
New Division III positioning statement
The new Division III positioning statement begins with a phrase
intended to simply describe the student-athlete experience:
"Follow your passions and discover your
potential."
The statement continues:
"The college experience is a time of learning and growth
– a chance to follow passions and develop potential. For
student-athletes in Division III, all of this happens most
importantly in the classroom and through earning an academic
degree. The Division III experience provides for passionate
participation in a competitive athletic environment, where
student-athletes push themselves to excellence and build upon their
academic success with new challenges and life skills. And
student-athletes are encouraged to pursue the full spectrum of
opportunities available during their time in college. In this way,
Division III provides an integrated environment for
student-athletes to take responsibility for their own paths, follow
their passions and find their potential through a comprehensive
learning experience."
Check out the video: Click Here
This is the first video from the NCAA's new Division III
Identity Initiative. The purpose of this video is to communicate
the values of Division III, as well as the six attributes of
Division III: Proportion, Comprehensive Learning, Passion,
Responsibility, Sportsmanship, and Citizenship.
Platform launch highlights DIII
forum (pdf)
