Marshall University Athletics
MCGILL: Football team's voter registration gives players a voice
10/21/2020 9:14:00 PM | Football, Word on the Herd
Student-athletes want to give back to community, get involved
By Chuck McGill
The Marshall University football program has proven to be more about action, less about talk.
For example: Friday afternoons before home games are devoted to hospital visits. A group of players have continued the tradition year after year of visiting a local children's hospital and spending time with the sick, hoping to make a difference and brighten a day. Every December, the Thundering Herd football program holds a Kickoff for Kids toy drive. The Marshall football equipment truck is parked outside of a local Walmart and student-athletes spend the day helping customers shop for toys for needy children around the area.
The efforts do not top there, of course. There are school visits and other community service projects, but the football program has been thinking on a grander scale in 2020. The players formed a committee to communicate with student affairs across campus, and there are plans in the works to do what Mark Gale, MU's Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations, called more "lasting" projects, such as building houses.
In August, though, the football players looked inward. If they wanted a bigger voice, there is no better way to contribute than to become a registered voter.
"Fantastic!" Marshall President Dr. Jerry Gilbert said on Twitter about the initiative. "Voting is our civic duty and we need to encourage all of our students to do it."
Matt James, Marshall's Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, helped the Marshall football program register the entire team, and he explained to student-athletes important dates and information to know, like absentee voting deadlines. James said he was "proud" to be part of the initiative.
"Sometimes the greatest part of communicating is listening, not just talking," Gale said. "Listening to our players and them wanting to have a voice, whether or not you're a republican or democrat or independent, it was an opportunity for our kids to have their voice heard.
"We have 111 players. You look at 130 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) programs and then you start adding on top of that: FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA. You start putting those numbers together, and you could see this was an opportunity for them to make a difference."
Gale worked with running backs coach Pepe Pearson on the voter registration initiative. Pearson, who starred as a football player at Ohio State, became active in the community as a student-athlete and has made that a pillar of his coaching career.
"One of the things I think is important for student-athletes is when they are in college is to really have the college experience in regards to having a great education, they have a major they like, and also being a part of everything socially," Pearson said. "I'm a big person when it comes to community service. I think highly of that. That's something we're trying to instill in the team. We do things like the hospital visits. I think that's very exciting for the program. We have a committee who communicates with student affairs about things they can do to have a voice on campus. I think the student-athletes being engaged with that process while they're in college will help produce a whole person."
For Gale, it wasn't about voting for a particular candidate or party. He wants to see student-athletes engaged and active in the future of the country.
"We've talked about those who have come before us and those who have fought for our freedoms," Gale said, "and that's one of the things they have fought for, to have those liberties and freedoms to have their voices heard."
