Students at Tech deal with challenges everyday, from studying for the next exam to connecting with friends, but student-athletes face those same challenges while also balancing a practice schedule and navigating the fast-changing environment of collegiate sports. The Georgia Tech Student-Athlete Advisory Board (GTSAAB) looks to represent athletes at Tech while also developing them as people. The purpose of the board is best described by the mission statement on GTSAAB’s website: “Our mission is to enrich the lives of student-athletes through collaboration, communication and creative implementation.”
GTSAAB has 36 student-athlete members, typically two representatives for each sports team. To learn more about GTSAAB, the Technique sat down with senior track and cross-country runner Allie Walker, the president of the board.
GTSAAB has four different committees that members can join: campus engagement, mental health, community outreach and social media, and marketing. Each of the committees are led by different members of the GTSAAB leadership team that work towards a unified goal.
“We have a GTSAAB Executive Board, that consists of four people. I’m the president and work with campus engagement, Sabina [Mrzygold] is the vice-president on the swim and dive team who works with community outreach, Caroline [Porterfield] is also on the swim and dive team who oversees social media, and then Jill Cotton is on the track and field team and takes care of mental health. The executive board consists of the four of us, and we see over each committee.… There’s a lot of things we want to do and with each of us overseeing parts of GTSAAB separately, but we’re all working towards one common goal: unity. The goals of the committees are to get people more involved and to split the work between the members,” Walker said.
The board often interacts with other members of the ACC and NCAA to determine what is best for student-athletes as a whole.
“Every year, like this past summer, I went to the ACC Student-Athlete Advisory Conference. … [At the conference,] it is fun to hear what works for other schools and bounce ideas off each other and also to discuss the things that are changing within the ACC and the NCAA as a whole,” Walker said.
Collegiate sports are at an extremely dynamic moment in time, with Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) driving the change. GTSAAB have become spokespeople with regards to the opportunities athletes have as well as showcasing the different types of NIL deals that are available.
“NIL has completely taken over some aspects of college athletics, which is a great thing in some ways. You see some football players decide to stay an extra year because they might get paid more with NIL than they would if they got drafted. … I see how NIL enhances a lot of people’s lives and I am not against it at all. Student-athletes work really, really hard and a lot of us don’t have time to get a job to get paid…. The NIL possibilities are endless,” Walker said.
“There’s a lot of different ways you can do NIL, which I like because it is not always just about the money but also honoring the student-athletes. Giving student-athletes a chance to promote a brand they like or has enhanced their experience as a college athlete, you see a lot of college athletes doing deals with brands that they use.” Alongside revenue-sharing becoming commonplace, college sports have a newer issue — roster size constraints. The NCAA will implement a maximum roster size for every sport. This change comes with allowing unlimited scholarships as long as the number is below the roster limit.
“Rosters will be changing in the NCAA. That’s the biggest thing, especially for Tech and how they are going to go about that process. I know that it is a hard thing that they are working through. It is a great time to be a student-athlete, but it is also a harder time, especially for Olympic sports that might not bring in as much revenue. Despite the challenges, I know that the last thing Tech would ever want to do is cut sports programs from the school,” Walker said. She went on to further reiterate that Tech cares about the student-athletes and will not look to make any unnecessary cuts.
Part of what makes GTSAAB important is that they are the voice of the student-athlete community. In the board’s bylaws, the president has the opportunity to meet with athletic director J Batt and build a working relationship with the athletic
department as a whole.
“I’ve met with J Batt multiple times, if there is something that pops up he will make time for me. I have a great relationship with J Batt and think he is incredible. He brings so much goodness into Tech athletics and Tech as a whole. I think very highly of him, and I am thankful to know him and that he’s always willing to listen,” Walker said. Walker also sits in on athletic department and Board of Trustees meetings to give the thoughts of the student-athlete and learn more about the thought processes of decision makers.
Walker always wanted to be a Jacket. She first got involved with GTSAAB thanks to the guidance of mentors throughout her years on the board.
“Coming into Tech, I was in awe…It was my dream to come to a school like this, to be an athlete at this school. I am living out my dream. …My old teammate Nicole Fegans, an absolutely legendary runner at Tech, was president of GTSAAB my freshman year. I looked up to everything she did and saw how impactful she was at GTSAAB,” Walker said.
“I applied to be the representative for the cross country team my sophomore year where former GTSAAB president Ben King made my experience much better. He cared about all of us and I looked up to him, not only as an athlete but a person. Junior year, I applied to be the vice president and I stood up in front of GTSAAB and pitched my ideas. As vice-president, I was under Liz Patterson, one of my best friends.
I got to follow in her footsteps and look up to her and see the impact she made,” Walker said. She consistently emphasized the relationships that she developed through GTSAAB and the people that guided her. Walker took many things from the previous presidents of GTSAAB, but she looks to leave her mark on the board for the future.
“I am just really passionate about people. I want people to know that they are loved and taken care of and supported. …I want to be a good leader in that way. It is not about putting on the best event, but it can be about the small things. I think that relationships, serving and being a kind person are very important. Those principles are something that I take seriously. I hope to leave that impact on GTSAAB for the future,” Walker said.
Despite the strength in her leadership, Walker has experienced personal struggles recently. She experienced a health scare in late 2024, when she was diagnosed with a rare spinal tumor. Due to a surgery removing the tumor, Walker has been unable to run and forced her to embrace other parts of her life.
“It has been a roller coaster for sure. … It has taught me a lot in many different ways. It has been harder than expected. … So often, we live our day-to-day lives and just go through the motions, but things can change so quickly. I think I have been embracing my team more, embracing my coaches more. It is such a joy to even go to practice and watch my team run. It is just the little things that we take for granted so often,” Walker said.
She draws on her time running, while still looking for comfortability in the uncomfortable situation. “Running is so mental and physical. You have to push yourself if you want to be good. I have teammates that run 75 mile weeks and we push ourselves to the very core to be good and to see results. … Running has taught me that I am tougher than I think I am. If I am ever going through something painful I put it in terms of running. For example, if a test takes 10 minutes, that’s only a couple miles. …I tie everything to things that I know I can do,” Walker said.
Despite being unable to run, Walker has found solace with an activity she used to hate.“My teammates and I have been laughing [because] I am really living up to my last name these days. The experience has been different. Before, I questioned the purpose of walking, like why walk when you can just run somewhere,” she said jokingly. “I have found that the walks have actually been really peaceful and it is something to never take for granted.” Her struggle has forced her to find a newfound perspective to apply in all aspects of life.