Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Spring 2014 | Page 26

teaming up
by Dawn Kotapish ’92

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hen soccer midfielder Josh Clark ’14 broke his ankle
recently, it was a real blow. Not only were there just a handful of
games left to play during his last college season, but he also aspires
to continue playing after graduation on a professional or semiprofessional level.
Looking back, he’s deeply grateful for the support of Dr. Emily
Langan ’94, associate professor of communication, and men’s soccer’s
newly assigned faculty partner.
“Dr. Langan was one of the only people who called me after I got
injured, and she checked in with me on a weekly basis to let me know
she was praying for me.”
As a team captain, Josh has also encouraged his teammates to take
advantage of Dr. Langan’s advice in choosing and scheduling classes
and other matters related to balancing athletic and academic life.
“It’s the kind of input I wish I would have had early on in my
college career,” he says.
Last fall, Wheaton’s Intercollegiate Athletics Committee launched
the Faculty Athletics Partnership Program—an effort that formalizes
and expands on existing collaborative relationships between faculty
and Wheaton’s 463 varsity student athletes.
The program pairs all of Wheaton’s 21 varsity sports teams with one
to four faculty partners, depending on the size of the team. Faculty
partners support teams in myriad ways, with the goal of reinforcing
ties between student athletes’ athletic and academic pursuits.
Seeds of the program were planted five years ago over