Conferences: The Big South Conference kicked off its 25^th Anniversary Celebration last week in Charlotte, North Carolina. The league honored 25 “Best of the Best” moments from the first 25 years and recognized the leaders who built the Big South from the beginning. The conference also used the event to launch a new logo and tagline – “Developing Leaders Through Athletics.” The Big South was founded in August 1983 by Charleston Southern Athletics Director Howard Bagwell and August College President George Christenberry. The league will carry its celebration throughout the year with weekly and monthly announcements, interactive elements on its Web site, a special fan guide and the 25^th Anniversary Tour, which will visit each member institution’s campus … The Big South also donated $18,500 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the result of student-athlete fund-raising efforts throughout the 2007-08 academic year. The conference’s SAAC created the Kallander Cup – named for Commissioner Kyle Kallander – to inspire SAACs at different institutions to see who could raise the most money for charity. The student-athletes raised just more than $14,000 and the Big South added $4,000 to grant three wishes. Liberty won this year’s Kallander Cup by raising $4,044.66 for Make-A-Wish.

Facilities: Delaware commissioned an assessment of athletics and recreation facilities, intended to provide short and long-term solutions for recreation services and the athletics department. HOK Sport will conduct the assessment, with initial results expected this fall. The group is expected to provide an architectural vision and develop a schedule of priorities for new construction and renovations. In the initial phase, the firm will concentrate on academic support areas, an expansion in weight training facilities and a sports medicine clinic. The second phase will include a master plan for future facility needs.

Miscellaneous: Stetson unveiled new logos and marks for its athletics department last week, the first change since the 1989-90 academic year. The updated marks are the result of an extensive re-branding process done by a committee that worked with Phoenix Design Works from New York City …Two former Massachusetts track and field student-athletes bicycled from Boston to San Francisco in 35 days to raise more than $16,000 for the Children’s Hunger Fund. Jon Korhonen received a bachelor’s degree in communication in 2006, and Andy McCarron earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering in 2005. The Massachusetts community will welcome them back on August 16.