MILTON, Mass. - NCAA Division III Week is set for April 7-13 across the country. The event is a celebration by member institutions and conferences of the division's unique philosophy that equally values academics, athletics and student-athletes' involvement in a full and rich campus life. This year's celebration takes on more meaning as member schools and conferences also are celebrating Division III's 40th anniversary year.

The Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) will kick off its celebration of Division III Week on Student-Athlete Day, Sunday, April 6, as the conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will host their spring meeting. The group will be meeting in the morning to discuss conference business and in the afternoon they will participate in a presentation given by Hudson Taylor, the Founder & Executive Director of Athlete Ally. For more information on Athlete Ally, please visit http://www.athleteally.org/about/.

The conference SAAC is also currently holding its "Annual Giving Event" which began in March and will run through DIII Week. The "giving event" is an initiative that requires each campus SAAC to select a specific item(s) to collect on campus and then make a donation to a local charity. A few different items that are being collected include shoes, backpacks, slightly used athletic gear, old uniforms, and personal hygiene items.

CCC member institutions will also take part in activities on or around their campuses throughout DIII Week.

Curry College has a number of events and activities planned, including:

• Selling Spirit wear T-shirts and promoting all homes games during the week. Proceeds will go to Team IMPACT.
• Email to all faculty and staff encouraging attendance at all home matches
• Each athletic team has been assigned to a game during D3 week to fill the stands
• Deans in Jeans Dinner: Team captains will have an opportunity to have a meal with College administrators to promote healthy discussions
• Uniform/Equipment Drive: Old uniforms and equipment are being donated by various programs and will be going to Hoops for Haiti (basketball), Peace Passers (soccer), and Let's Play it Forward (all other gear)
• Curry College Bridge to Success Program (see description below), Friday April 11th
• Milton Foundation For Education "Celebrate Education" Event Volunteers, Saturday April 12th  http://www.miltonfoundationforeducation.org/

Bridge to Success Program:

The Bridge to Success program is a mentorship program through the Student Activities Office with the Boston Collegiate Charter School (BCCS) 5th graders. The BCCS 5th graders visit Curry for one day and learn about what it is like to be in college. The Student Leaders give them a tour of the campus and have them participate in planned activities including athletics, classroom sessions and listening to a panel of students and staff.  The mission of the program is to expose the 5th graders to college campuses will provide the students with a connection to the cultural, academic and extracurricular activities available with a college education and in addition, the opportunities an advanced degree offers.

More information on Division III Week:

For a Division III Week "Facts & Figures" document please click HERE.
For resources regarding NCAA Division III Week click HERE.

Division III Week is an opportunity to publicly celebrate and promote the ways in which Division III members have provided a well-rounded collegiate experience not only for approximately 180,000 student-athletes currently playing sports in the NCAA's largest division, but for the hundreds of thousands of their predecessors who have competed since Division III was formed and hosted its first championships during 1973-74.

During NCAA Division III Week, every member institution and conference is encouraged to schedule at least one activity, which celebrates an aspect of the Division III student-athlete experience, from these three categories:

• Academic accomplishment, including activities such as taking time during a game to acknowledge student-athlete academic achievement, or asking teams to select a faculty member to serve as a guest coach for a practice or competition.

• Athletics activity, including conducting events such as a youth sports clinic or competition, or scheduling recognition of school teams' or individuals' athletics accomplishments during a game.

• Community or campus outreach, such as scheduling a community-service activity during the week, or participating in an event involving a local chapter of Special Olympics as part of Division III's partnership with that organization.

Follow all of the DIII Week stories being told across the country by checking out the Twitter hashtag #d3week and if you want to tell a Division III story of your own, use the Twitter hashtag #whyd3!