RICHARDSON, Texas – Dedication to service within their campus and local communities was recognized by the American Southwest Conference Directors of Athletics who selected
Rohan Springer of UT Dallas and
Mollie Dittmar of East Texas Baptist as the 2022-23 Community Service Athlete of the Year recipients.
The ASC Community Service Award is presented for the 13th time this year and honors a male and female student-athlete who best displays leadership and action in fostering community service on their campus and local community. Each ASC member institution can nominate student-athletes to the conference-wide ballot.
Springer, a sophomore cross country and track and field athlete, served as the Secretary/Executive Administrator for SAAC this past year and was chosen as President going into the next academic year. Springer was chosen as the ASC/SCAC National SAAC Representative, too. Springer started a monthly department newsletter and was active in multiple community service projects on and off campus that SAAC was involved with. Those events included UTD homecoming, SAAC canned food drive, City of Richardson electronic recycling, and Special Olympics at the National Convention. Springer also spent a week in Jennings, Louisiana rebuilding houses as part of the Mennonite Disaster Service. Other events included working graduation celebration with our marketing school, volunteering at a charity event for ENCAN, the National Foundation for to End Child Abuse and Neglect. He has volunteered at Minnie’s Food Pantry, campus cleanups, and Feed My Starving Children.
Dittmar, a senior women’s basketball player, spent three years serving the community around her at ETBU and East Texas. In May 2023, she served with her ETBU basketball team in Ireland on a mission trip putting on basketball clinics, served food to people, and served in a local church. Dittmar has volunteered at Mission Marshall as a grocery shopper helping low-income families with food while also sorting items at the non-profit facility. During the week, she serves at Mobberly Baptist Church helping with elementary education teaching children from pre-K to third grade on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. In the Marshall ISD system, she has volunteered at junior high helping with youth to grow their educational skills. She was named ETBU’s Senior Girl Call Out winner for exemplary Christian character, social consciousness, personal poise, academic achievement, and spiritual vision. In three years at ETBU, she has been a Tiger Camp leader/worker and helped with the Baptist Student Ministry’s Serve Day. Back home in Buffalo, Texas, she has served at her church helping with children’s church and Vacation Bible School.
2022-23 ASC Community Service Award Nominees
Biographical information provided by each student-athletes’ sports information director
MEN'S NOMINEES
DeMarcus Coleman | Hardin-Simmons | Senior | Football
DeMarcus Coleman is a positive leader on our campus. He was the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has helped organize our Special Olympics track meet for two years. Our student-athletes put on a track meet for over 150 Special Olympians as a practice meet before their district meets. This is done in conjunction with our partnership with Special Olympics during Division III Week. Coleman also is part of Division III week where we celebrate our student-athletes on campus with a variety of events.
Carter Little | Ozarks | Junior | Men’s Basketball
Carter Little serves as Vice-President of the StudentAthlete Advisory Committee where he spearheaded a number of campus projects. Among the SAAC sponsored events he helped with were promotional activities at home games, the end of the year athletic awards show and Operation Christmas Child. With his team, Little assisted at the First United Methodist Church Distribution Center helping give supplies to underprivileged schools in the area. Little is also a campus student ambassador.
Jake Miller | East Texas Baptist | Graduate Student | Baseball
Jake Miller is a community leader for ETBU in his five years in East Texas. This past fall, he organized and helped run a six-week fall baseball skills camp for more than 120 local children on a Thursday night. Along with that, he was a part of handing out free Bibles to the campers with a partnership with FCA East Texas. Miller said, “Serving the community and holding a kid’s skill camp helped me realize how great of a platform we have in this city.” He also sent letters throughout the year to children in hospitals with ETBU FCA. Last summer, he went to Florida with New Beginnings Church as a summer camp leader for them. In the fall 2022, he was a church camp leader at the New Beginnings Church and Immanuel Baptist church and in the spring 2022 helped run a “Date Night” for adults at New Beginnings Church. From 2019-2021 he served at the Marshall Boys and Girls Club. Back home in North Richland Hills, in 2018 and 2019, he helped with the Southlake Carroll Senior High summer baseball camps.
WOMEN'S NOMINEES
Kelsey White | Mary Hardin-Baylor | Junior | Women’s Soccer
Kelsey White completed approximately 113 hours of individual community service. She participated in Belton FCA Sports Camp, #GOALS (special needs soccer), Love of Christ Food Pantry, Sigma Pi Highway Clean up, UMHB SAAC Adopt a Soldier, CEC Food Pantry, Santa Scurry 5K, CEC Family Christmas Drive Through, Soccer Camp, UMHB Purple Gives Gold Phone-a-thon and UMHB Welcome Week. White is also a member of SAAC and will serve as team captain next season. She holds a 4.0 as a junior.
Samantha Tatum | Hardin-Simmons | Senior | Women’s Basketball
Samantha Tatum is the vice-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and has helped organize our Special Olympics track meet for two years. Our student-athletes put on a track meet for over 150 Special Olympians as a practice meet before their district meets. This is done in conjunction with our partnership with SO during Division III Week. Tatum also is part of Division III week where we celebrate our student-athletes on campus with a variety of events. She also has been involved in food drives at HSU.
Grace Houchin | Ozarks | Sophomore | Women’s Soccer
Grace Houchin was voted as the University's Student-Athlete Volunteer of the Year for the 2022-23 season. Houchin assisted with Operation Christmas Child and volunteered at a Valentine's Dance with Clarksville's M.A.C. Industries. She also volunteered with Special Olympics games in the area. She works in the Athletic Training Offices during the school year as a student assistant. A standout soccer player, Houchin was named to the All-Conference Team in 2022. She was on the 2022 Academic All-District Women's Soccer Team and earned ASC Academic All-Conference honors.
Rachel Kahler | UT Dallas | Senior | Cross Country/Track & Field
Rachel Kahler was our SAAC Community Service Liaison. She coordinated all community service events that SAAC participated in this past year which included a campus volunteering event called Voluntemoc, she also restocked an on-campus book exchange on National Reading Day. Rachel organized a food drive for Comet Cupboard which our students can get food at. Kahler coordinated volunteering for the City of Richardson electronic recycling event, she represented athletics at the UTD Homecoming, she donated clothes to Galenstein Gender Center and Circle K International. She has also been a part of our freshman mentoring program for 3 years.
Addie Leal | McMurry | Senior | Volleyball
Addie Leal displays those same characteristics as the criteria set for this award. She is active in her church and in our McMurry/ tri-college FCA huddles, and she serves our campus as a Resident Assistant, a Student Athletic Advisory Committee member, and has been an active participant in our Athletics Leadership Academy and seminars. Addie has a bright spirit and is an encourager; she works hard and leads by example. She loves people and is welcoming and is proud to be a part of the McMurry Family.
ASC Community Service Award Archives