Students in the undergraduate Sport Management and Master’s Sport Administration (MSA) programs at Canisius College raised $1,400, which they presented to Brian Moorman’s P.U.N.T. Foundation in a ceremony on Wednesday, March 23. Shawn O’Rourke, PhD, director of sport administration, and the Institute for Research in Sport (IRIS), along with students from the two programs, presented the check to Gwen Mysiak, executive director of the foundation. The charitable foundation, started by the former Buffalo Bills punter Brian Moorman and his wife, Amber, helps families of children with pediatric cancer. It is headquartered in Western New York and has been helping families in Western New York since 2004.
The funds were raised through the Micro-Tyco Challenge, in which students were placed in teams of four and each team was given $1 of seed capital with the challenge to take their ideas, operate a business and generate as much real wealth as possible in one month. During the month of February, 32 students from SPMT 420, Economic and Finance in Sport Industry, as well as MSA 560, Moral and Ethical Issues in Sport classes participated in the Micro-Tyco Challenge. Business plans were judged and executed, real money changed hands and the resulting proceeds were targeted for the foundation. Projects among the different teams participating included a team who managed their ‘network’ and auctioned off sport memorabilia, while another team created a bottle and recycling drive.
The joint efforts of the faculty in developing this assignment and the students in taking up the challenge shows how students and faculty can collaborate to make a difference. As O’Rourke explains, “One of the visions for our SPMT/MSA programs is about developing sport leaders for a sustainable world. Experiential learning is a key priority for us, and Micro-Tyco certainly delivers on that; it is active learning.” For more information about this project, contact Shawn O’Rourke, at Ext. 3179.
Submitted by: Sara Morris, PhD, associate vice president, academic affairs
