CONFERENCING AND EVENTS #EKUENGAGES IN DETERMINATION
700 COMMUNITY AND CORPORATE VOLUNTEERS
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1,400 ATHLETES EACH YEAR
YEARS AT EKU
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On our last day on campus, I looked over and saw a couple of athletes
crying their eyes out on a bench. Their coach looked at me and said, ‘They don’t want to leave. They don’t want to go home.’ This is the one time a
year that so many of our athletes get to get out of their hometowns and have the time of their lives. TRISH MAZZONI PRESIDENT/CEO OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF KENTUCKY
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Mazzoni added that EKU’s Department of Conferencing and Events strategizes and works with the organization to ensure that all of its unique needs and last-minute requests are accommodated. “That is unique. It’s truly a partnership. I can’t stress enough it’s the staff that makes the difference,” Mazzoni said. “When we come to campus, we are event people who are working with event people and together, we are darn good.” The 2017 Kentucky Special Olympics State Games was one of more than 1,000 events that EKU Conferencing and Events facilitated and welcomed to campus. This year alone, more than 175,000 visitors have traveled to Eastern’s campus for experiences such as academic and professional networking and conferences, K-12 academic and athletic competitions, as well as summer camp programs.
More than 35,000 K-12 students participated in events such as the Future Business Leaders of America conference, the Kentucky State Science Fair, Model Lab School’s “All A Classic” Basketball Tournament, the Kentucky High School Athletics Association’s 44th District and 11th Region Basketball Tournaments and much more in 2017. More than 6,000 youth visited Eastern’s campus during the summer months to participate in summer programming offered by University departments, grant-funded programs, as well as organizations from across the state and Ohio Valley Region. “We had our best year ever this past June,” Mazzoni said. “We always leave EKU having a sense of that.” See what Special Olympics events are coming up at soky.org.
EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
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