AD Newsletter with Bryan Felt - August 2020 - Seton Hall University Athletics

Dear Pirates Nation,

Our fall semester started this past Monday, and we are excited to welcome back our student-athletes to campus. While we are still dealing with this pandemic, we are thankful that our staff has put in an incredible amount of time and thought into a plan that allows us to bring everyone back and keep them safe and healthy.

I have been able to meet with the majority of our teams, and I certainly have gotten a great sense of excitement from our student-athletes, who are happy to be back and return to the sport they love.

As I've mentioned in past newsletters, I highly encourage you to visit the University's website that has all of the most up-to-date information for the entire University community.

Fall Sports Update

Earlier this month, the BIG EAST Conference had the unfortunate responsibility of postponing the 2020 fall sports season due to the current landscape of this COVID-19 pandemic. It is a decision we fully support, but a sound conscience did not make it any easier to break the news to our student-athletes, who work so hard for the opportunity to compete for a championship.

While there is no competition this fall for our cross country, soccer and volleyball programs, those teams are still here on campus, ready to train and practice so that they will be prepared for whenever competition resumes. As we've always said, we will give them the best experience possible even under these difficult circumstances.

Introducing our #HALLin This TOGETHER Initiative

Back in June, we held candid and honest discussions with our student-athletes about the state of our country and the social injustice that people of color, especially Blacks, are suffering through because of racism and intolerance. From those discussions, we as a department set out to utilize our position as a place of higher education with a platform to others. And now we have our #HALLin This TOGETHER initiative, programming designed to foster dialogue, education and forms of action that support diversity and inclusion.

We want our Seton Hall Athletics community to be prepared to change the world for the better, and we're ready to do so in partnership with RISE, a leading provider of educational programming that equips sports leaders to create positive change on matters of racism, social justice and equality.

Be sure to read more about #HALLin This TOGETHER and we will continue to update our community on what we are doing to combat social injustice and racism.

An Update on Our Annual Beefsteak Tip-Off Dinner

The 2018 Beefsteak Tip-Off Dinner Crowd 1920x1080

As you may realize from our current landscape, Pirate Blue is making alternate plans to its annual Beefsteak Tip-Off Dinner, one of the best events we host each year. While we are going to miss seeing our loyal fans pack Walsh Gymnasium in support of our basketball programs, we are dedicated towards still having a virtual event that brings everyone together to celebrate the beginning of hoops season.

Pirate Blue is hard at work figuring out the details and will provide an update via email and social media soon. In the meantime, I do hope that no matter what the event ends up being this year we can count on your support. The Beefsteak is a critical event that helps support our programs. Men's & women's basketball have combined for six NCAA Tournament and three NIT appearances in the last six years, which shows how your investment in our student-athletes has led to great success.

Help Us Support Our Programs

Team Celebrates after Buzzer-Beating Win over Butler

While we know times are uncertain, we are still very much hopeful for a 2020-21 basketball season, and we hope you are too. I've mentioned in this space that season tickets are currently on sale, and our ticket office is still connecting with current season ticket holders about renewing for 2020-21.

While we don't have concrete answers on what the season will look like, please know that revenue generated from men's basketball season tickets and the Pirate Blue Seat Priority Seat Premium are critical towards supporting not only our basketball teams but all 14 of our programs.

We hope we can count on your support, and please know that we are also providing guarantees to season ticket holders should the schedule need to be adjusted. You can read about those guarantees along with other information on our Season Ticket Holder FAQ Page.

Keep Hoisting the Colors on Social Media!

AD Newsletter Fan Photo - August 2020

Thanks to all of our fans and supporters who have sent in photos as part of our Hoist the Colors campaign. Keep sending them to our @SHUAthletics Twitter account! Above are four more photos from great fans and I look forward to featuring four more next month!

STAY SAFE, WEAR A MASK & GO PIRATES!