The Sun Belt Conference recently unveiled a new brand campaign designed to highlight student-athlete accomplishments in and out of competition. The “Education, Sports, Life – A Winning Combination” theme is designed to emphasize the value of athletics within the context of higher education.

The theme will be a constant presence on the Sun Belt Web site. The conference office will produce features stories, public service announcements and other electronic media to help support the theme on conference, campus and national levels.

“We want to go beyond just the box scores and stat sheets,” said Associate Commissioner John McElwain. “We want to talk about what our student-athletes are doing in the community, and what they’re doing in the classroom. We want to talk about what they’re doing to become better people and help others around them become better people.”

McElwain said the theme will have a prominent role at conference championships through apparel, programs, posters, banners and other media.

 “Our student-athletes, all student-athletes, are getting an education and experiencing life-changing, life-challenging events,” McElwain said. “They’re all tied together through sports. Those three things together – education, sports, life – are a combination that all student-athletes experience in their time on campus, as they graduate and become a successful member of society.”

McElwain said the conference plans to spend three or four years implementing the theme on its 13 campuses. The conference will concentrate on the importance of athletics on campus and to higher education as a whole, along with the balance student-athletes strive for every day.

“Athletics provides an outlet for a lot of people to get involved with their university,” he said. “We hope to spread the message about how great our student-athletes are and how much they contribute to their community and university, not just their team.”