A bridge to success - and the community: Southeast Missouri State University Walk for Women raises scholarship funds for student-athletes

The ninth annual Southeast Missouri State University Walk for Women will begin at 9 a.m. on April 16 at Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau.

The purpose of the event, sponsored by SoutheastHEALTH, is to bring attention to the diverse and successful group of women involved in the university's women's athletic programs.

"We started this nine years ago with the intent of creating awareness of our women's athletics program, and in taking an opportunity to actually... meet our female athletes, see some of the great things they're accomplishing," says Cindy Gannon, Southeast's senior associate director of athletics and senior woman administrator.

Gannon says she appreciates that she and other people in the community are able to celebrate the women's athletic program through this walk, especially because it helps raise money for the university's athletic scholarship fund. All money raised before and during the walk will be used to enhance the fund, which will assist a number of existing and incoming athletes.

The university has eight women's sports teams, including soccer, softball, tennis, gymnastics, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track. Although the walk is technically for the female athletes, representatives from all areas of the athletic program, male and female, will participate in the walk to help raise awareness and scholarship funds for the program as a whole.

Gannon says the athletics department first and foremost recruits athletes to play for the university, but on top of that, the department has several core values it wishes to instill in athletes during their time at the university.

She says the department's main goals are to offer students the opportunity to compete on the court or the field, to help them develop socially, to give them the opportunity to give back to the community and to encourage them to achieve academic success and a degree.

2015 Walk for WomenSubmitted photo

"This event really kind of models what we would like our student-athletes to carry forward with them when they leave Southeast Missouri State," Gannon says. "We see a community that comes in and supports the university. We want our student-athletes to know how important it is that they go back out and support the community, because it's really both ways."

Calling Southeast athletics a student's "bridge to success," Gannon stresses the importance of gaining a well-rounded education and experience with the community while in college.

"We're really trying to create that bridge so they move into adulthood and go out after this experience and say, 'This is what I have achieved throughout my athletic career, my academic athletic career as a student-athlete at Southeast, now this is [how] I'm going to go out and make my mark on the world," she says.

By line:2015 Walk for WomenCutline Email/Stock:Submitted photo

Student-athletes will be contacting alumni to re-engage and encourage them to come back to Southeast for the walk to support the women's athletics program and all the student-athletes involved.

Gannon says not only is the walk a way for female student-athletes to band together and work for the better of the program as a whole, but also it is an opportunity for them to connect with the community and the people who support the athletics program year round.

"I think [the walk] shows our student-athletes how important community is, and so the support they get from the community shows them what a difference the community can make on a university -- not just a university making an impact on a community, it's a community impacting a university," she says.

Gannon says it's been enriching for her throughout her time at Southeast to meet and get to know a number of supportive women who care about the women's athletics program.

"It's just very heartwarming to know we've found a niche within the community with a very strong group of women," she says.

2015 Walk for Women - Lenna Matukewicz leads a pack of walkers.Submitted photo

Cindy Knudtson is a member of the walk's "strike force," a team of women who help reach out to others to be sponsors and donate to the walk. She has been involved with the walk nearly every year since the inaugural march in 2008.

"This is one event amid several that the community and the university work together on, and with Cindy Gannon being at the helm of it, we're all about supporting Cindy and her efforts and her dreams for these athletes, all athletes," she says.

Knudtson says she enjoys the walk because it allows the university and community to work together for the good of student-athletes, especially because some student-athletes wouldn't be able to attend college without the assistance of an athletic scholarship.

"It's thrilling to me to see somebody get the chance to go to school that otherwise wouldn't have the chance, and I do it for that, for what it adds to somebody's chance for life improvement, and everyone needs to go to school," Knudtson says.

A new advertising and social media campaign for the walk will be introduced this year, a hashtag called "#WhytheWomen." Video teasers including the tagline will feature exceptional female athletes in the program and share their stories about what they do and how they do it.

Knudtson says the purpose of the hashtag is to bring back the focus to why the walk originated in the first place, to show community members why they should support women's athletics and to empower the outstanding female athletes and their teams.

Gannon says the team that raises the most money will be given an award in honor of Kim Mothershead, the honorary chair of the walk its first year who encouraged Gannon to press on and follow through with the event. Mothershead died from cancer in 2012, but her daughters continue to support the event. Gannon says she hopes the award will continue to be given in the future, even after she has retired.

Everyone is encouraged to attend the walk. Those who wish to participate can create teams and register online at gosoutheast.com. It costs $25 to register and get a T-shirt for the event. Breakfast will be served the day of, and there also will be further donation incentive levels, such as $75 for a special gift and $100 to be entered into a drawing for a special prize.

With more than $70,000 raised last year, Gannon is hopeful for the success of this year's walk.

"We've got our goals set high again this year, and so I anticipate that hopefully we'll exceed our expectation," she says.