Auburn AD Allen Greene said communicating with his student athletes has been “one of the toughest” elements associated with the pandemic. Greene, speaking yesterday during the CAA World Congress Comes To You virtual event, said having Auburn's 550+ student athletes back home -- in the U.S. or other countries -- makes it challenging to stay in touch. Greene said one solution has been setting up a “communication model where our coaches are the ones who are communicating through me.” He also said he has had two Zoom calls with the school’s Student Athlete Advisory Council, and “part of what I’ve asked the SAC to do is ask their fellow student athletes what are some of the challenges, concerns, things that they’re going through, things that they’re experiencing.” Greene said he hopes those conversations will shed some insight so that the school “can work hard to address their needs.”
FRIEND-RAISE, NOT FUNDRAISE: Greene always has been known as a fierce and successful fundraiser, but those efforts have been halted. While Greene understands this “isn’t necessarily a time to fundraise,” he believes it is a “time to friend raise.” He knows many of those who support Auburn’s athletic department are “feeling the economic pain, if not the natural health pain” from COVID-19, and the school wants to “make sure that we are in contact with the people who support us just to check in to see how they’re doing.” Greene: “That is our focus right now, loving thy neighbor.”
ALL IN: Greene said during his conversations with his peers at the SEC, he has found they are “all facing the same challenges.” Greene: “How do you keep your student athletes healthy? How do you figure out, and stay engaged with your coaches and your staff? How are you communicating with the university leadership? What’s happening at the national level with regards to our conference peers? And what are things going to look like on the other side of this curve?” Greene said he is fortunate that he and his SEC colleagues have been “on the same page and working together to do the best we can to manage through this uncertain environment.”
