Carnegie Mellon University’s Loebbaka Named to the Division III NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) - Carnegie Mellon University’s junior men’s basketball player Matt Loebbaka was chosen as a member of the Division III NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee earlier this month. Loebbaka will be one of 24 national representatives to serve on the committee when his term begins in January.

“Given the opportunity to represent Carnegie Mellon and the UAA on a national scale is an once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Loebbaka said.

Loebbaka will be representing all of the student-athletes from the University Athletic Association (UAA) and the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) during his three-year term.  Under the membership structure of the Division III SAAC each conference is paired with another conference and those conferences alternate representatives on the committee every three years.

“I was honored and humbled to be given this opportunity, and even more so when I found out I had been elected,” Loebbaka said.

It is an opportunity that is so rare only two other UAA student-athletes have had the honor of serving on the National SAAC.  Previous UAA representatives were current Carnegie Mellon Interim Director of Athletics, Josh Centor (Brandeis University – baseball), and Isaac Stein (Washington University – Tennis).  During his tenure with the NCAA, Centor also served as a staff liaison to the Division III SAAC.

“The National SAAC is an important and influential committee within the Division III governance structure. The committee members have an opportunity to represent the student-athlete voice in a significant way,” Centor said. “Matt is a tremendous individual and a wonderful leader within the Carnegie Mellon community. He will do an outstanding job representing the university, conference and all Division III student-athletes. We are so proud of Matt and couldn’t be more excited for his opportunity.”

From Mt. Prospect, Illinois, Loebbaka is a Chemical Engineering major planning to graduate in the spring of 2015.  He will continue to serve the final year of his term in the National SAAC after graduation.

“I am looking forward to bringing my passion for athletics to a national level with other like-minded student-athletes,” Loebbaka noted.

“The most impressive part of the UAA has always been our student-athletes,” commented UAA Executive Secretary Dick Rasmussen.  “Matt represents the best of that experience, and I look forward to working with him in his new role as a member of the Division III SAAC.”