UVM is first D-I school to become Special Olympics College

Vermont Athletics, led by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), has formalized a partnership with Special Olympics Vermont by joining the Special Olympics College program. The Catamounts are the first Division I school in the country to be recognized as a Special Olympics College. UVM has been a longtime supporter of Special Olympics, hosting and providing volunteers for the spring and summer games and volunteering for other events that the organization holds. In past years, UVM’s SAAC organization has sponsored the Catamount Country Talent Show to benefit Special Olympics Vermont.

Kyle Chu, a senior captain on the track and field team and current SAAC Chair, works closely with SAAC’s Special Olympic representative. “We are excited for this partnership and our kickoff event between Vermont student-athletes and local Special Olympic athletes. This partnership will prove to be greater than the sum of its parts and act as a model for other colleges.”

SAAC and Vermont Athletics officially kicked off the Special Olympics College partnership by hosting a Unified Soccer event at Redstone Green on Monday, Oct. 13, where they played soccer games with athletes from the Edmunds Unified and Burlington High School Unified soccer teams.