Scholar-Athletes Lead by Example, Building Body and Mind

Scholar-athletes like Wes Wenzel ’13 and Kelli Snyder ’13 lead by example and inspire those around them both on and off the field. More than 25 percent of Willamette undergraduates participate in one or more varsity sport each year.

Central to the mission of Bearcat Athletics is providing students with an intercollegiate athletics experience that develops life skills by cultivating moral, physical, intellectual and emotional growth. “Being an athlete at Willamette has pushed me much harder than I would have normally,” says Wenzel, a biochemistry major who plans to pursue a PhD in molecular genetics to do cancer research or to become a physician’s assistant, “That competitive drive that you get on the field just correlates directly to the classroom.”

Snyder, an exercise science major who also coaches softball, believes that her experience as a varsity athlete has offered her many life lessons. “A life lesson I’ve learned though my athletics experience here at Willamette is to always go 100 percent—you can’t take shortcuts. You gain that confidence to know you are worth it,” says Snyder, “You are worth the time your coaches have spent with you, the time your professors have spent with you, and mentoring you and teaching you.”

A growing group of alumni athletes and parents are standing with today’s Bearcats. “What makes Willamette University unique wouldn’t be possible without your donations,” says Wenzel, “We wouldn’t be able to be as successful as an athletic community in addition to an academic institution.” Snyder agrees, “Donating shows the athletes here that there are people outside your program that really do care and really do notice the hard work you put in.”

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