Administrators from the Sun Belt Conference recently took time from their annual fall meetings to contribute to the rebuilding effort now underway in New Orleans after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast last year.

More than 30 league presidents, athletics directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletics representatives spent October 11 working in the Musicians’ Village, a collection of 81 Habitat for Humanity-constructed homes earmarked for local musicians displaced by the storms. The project was developed by recording artists and New Orleans natives Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.

Members of the New Orleans-based league scheduled one day of the meetings to be set aside for the effort.

Commissioner Wright Waters said he was pleased by the level of commitment Sun Belt schools displayed. "The leadership at our schools understands how much assistance this area needs, and they have continually reached out to help those in need," he said.

Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney McPhee, who was on hand for the community-service initiative, said it was humbling to see all of the damage, but he appreciated the number of conference representatives who volunteered.

"This is an example of all that is good and right in America and how so many in this country rally around the less fortunate in their time of need," said McPhee. "I had a good conversation with one of the home owners in the area where we were working, and the entire experience really puts everything in perspective. I’m so glad we did this."

For more information about Habitat for Humanity and the Musicians’ Village, go to http://www.habitat-nola.org/.

What began as a sure way to boost attendance at the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association Fall Forum has turned into a benefit for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans has long been one of the most popular destinations for FARA members, and the organization was looking forward to record-breaking attendance at its upcoming gathering. Though those early hopes for a high level of participation were swept away in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the group’s commitment to retain the city as the destination for the 2006 Forum remained in place at the urging of members in the Gulf Coast region. As part of that commitment, FARA has launched a coordinated program of donations that will aid the City Park of New Orleans, a 1,300-acre park in the heart of the city, in purchasing much-needed athletics equipment.

Lorrie Clemo, FAR at State University of New York at Oswego and current president of FARA, encouraged members to attend the November 16-18 Forum and contribute to the effort. "Like our student-athletes, the youth of New Orleans grow physically, emotionally and socially through athletics participation. Your donation will help provide support for these critically needed opportunities in this still devastated region of the country," she said.

Those unable to attend may send donations to Karen Cooper, NCAA/FARA, P.O. Box 6222, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206. Checks should be made payable to the NCAA with "FARA Hurricane Relief" noted in the memo portion.

More than a handful of daughters can claim to have followed in their fathers’ footsteps by attending the same college and even playing a sport. However, Northwestern College’s Katie Tuseth and her father Perry may have established a new standard.

Katie is a junior on the basketball team at Division III provisional member Northwestern (Minnesota), and Perry is on the school’s golf team, creating what is believed to be the first time a father and daughter have competed at the same institution on teams in the same academic year.

Once Perry was accepted into the Master of Organizational Leadership program at Northwestern, he ended up trying out for a team that had claimed three of the last four Upper Midwest Athletic Conference titles. "It was the most nervous I’ve been over a golf ball in my life," he said.

While admitting he has not played as well as he would have liked, he said just like most freshmen, he’s still learning. Through it all, Katie is learning some lessons from her father as well.

"The example of how my dad lives his life, along with the goals he sets for himself in everything he does has always driven me to be a harder worker," she said. "He gives everything he has. For this, I look up to my dad and I learn so much from him on a daily basis."