Mr. Aaron Burk, director of the Center for Leadership Development and former assistant men’s director with Student Life, has been hard at work over the last year finding ways to promote Bruins athletics because, as he said, “Athletics is an opportunity to build community.”

Among other things, he hopes to close the gap between athletes and students. And he’s not alone either.

The Center for Leadership Development, Student Leadership Council and Student-Athlete Advisory Council are jointly pushing for a unified Bruins community in student athletics. 

SAAC is a student organization that mediates between athletes and the university. This semester, SAAC partnered with the CLD and SLC to increase student participation and support in athletics. 

“It makes sense that you do it from a student leadership piece, because then it’s much easier to normalize,” Mr. Burk said.

SAAC is led by Misha Gray, the current president of the association and a senior criminal justice major. Gray has been a Bruins track & field athlete for the past three years. SAAC includes two representatives from each sports team. 

“It’s being a voice for the athletes,” Gray said. “If people have problems, they can bring it to me, and then I can bring it to the administration. This year, we’re trying to make more events for the student body to be involved with sports.”

In addition to revamping this year’s pep rally, one thing they have changed already is offering concessions at every Bruins home game.

One of Mr. Burk’s greatest hopes is that the Bruins’ slogan “I wish I could, but it’s Bruins game day” would become a reality. His hope is that athletes and non-athletes alike would rally behind Bruins events and grow together as a result.

“That’s what I want it to be,” Mr. Burk said. “That makes going to the game normal, so it’s a given. Of course we’re going to the game.”

The Bruins athletics program is relatively new to the university and often struggles to fill the stands and stadiums at events. The CLD, SLC and SAAC want to normalize student attendance at sporting events. 

“It’s more of how we can create an experience that people would enjoy,” Mr. Burk said. “The SLC does that. They’re creating experiences outside the classroom that are beneficial to the student. We think that athletics has some of those events. So that’s why we’re trying to pull them together.”

The SLC partners with SAAC through advertising major sporting events, organizing themes and staffing concessions. The objective is to integrate both student-athletes and students as one “Bruins” community.

Gray is concerned the perceived divide between athletes and students is due to misconception. 

“I think there’s a bit of a misconception among the student body that athletes have a lot easier on campus: looser attendance policies, less concern about grades,” Gray said. “We’re held to the same standard as the rest of the student body.” 

Gray wants to unify students and student-athletes. He emphasized that every student at Bob Jones University is a Bruin.

“Our goal, our mindset, is really to create a better relationship between the athletes and the student body,” Gray said. “We’re trying to foster better relationships between the two. There’s nothing different between you and me; we’re both Bruins.” 

Mr. Burk said he loves athletics because it creates community.

“Anything that we do that helps us befriend the brother or sister next to us is beneficial for both of us,” Mr. Burk said. 

Gray emphasized that student involvement in athletics is crucial. “Bruins” is a unifying identity every BJU student can be a part of. 

“There’s two things that everybody in our school can rally on,” Gray said. “One is the gospel. We can rally that we are brothers and sisters in Christ. The second is we can rally around sports. I’m a firm believer that if we all were one spirit in one Bruin nation, our campus would be a lot more lively, because we feel this oneness. Having that team atmosphere is going to be huge. We’re both Bruins, we’re both Christians, so let’s serve God together and have fun while doing it and be a part of a bigger thing than just ourselves.”

This unified atmosphere cannot be created without student attendance at games.

“Come to the events!” Gray said. “Participation would be huge. It’s demoralizing when nobody is at your competitions. If people were to come to the games, it would mean so much to the athletes. Just come to the events, participate and be there. Get engaged with the game.”

Ultimately, students and student-athletes participate in the community of Bruins to give glory to God. 

“For athletes, there’s two different types of people that we’re competing against: a brother in Christ or someone who needs Christ,” Gray said. “I think that helps the athletes to understand the way I act is going to impact them. We should be praying that they don’t look at us and see us, but they say, ‘wow, he serves somebody that I want to serve.'”

The atmosphere at games fosters relationships between athletes and students and between students watching the games, Gray said.

By participating in the athletics program, Gray said, students develop closer relationships with one another and give glory to God.