With the arrival of the fall semester at Bushnell University, and a new athletic and academic year, the Beacon Athletic department has set the tone for a strong Tri-Athlete focus in 2025-2026 with multiple endeavors related to community service and character to start the year.
At Bushnell, we uphold a commitment to cultivating student-athletes into well rounded leaders through our Tri-Athlete approach, which integrates excellence in competition, in the classroom, and through character formation. Last year, Bushnell was recognized for our efforts as the 2024-2025 Cascade Conference School of Character, honored for our intentional approach to character development, which is the foundation of how we recruit, educate, and mentor student-athletes. This includes programs like the which included over 20 hours of community service for each student-athlete during the course of the year. Programs such as the Chaplain Captain initiative empower athletes to lead spiritual development within their teams, while peer-led groups and campus partnerships ensure that character-building is integrated into the day-to-day experience of all student-athletes.
During the 2024-25 academic year, Bushnell student-athletes contributed over 6,600 hours of community service. Through annual campus-wide events and team-led projects, Bushnell has created a culture of servant leadership that extends far beyond the athletic arena. Student-athletes regularly engage in impacting service to the local community and participate in mission trips that foster empathy and global citizenship. These efforts are not sporadic, but a part of a structured and intentional system that reinforces Bushnell’s commitment to service as a way of life.
Those efforts kicked off with a number of traditional service opportunities for Bushnell student-athlete as the school year got underway.
FALL MOVE IN/ORIENTATION
New-Student Orientation and Fall Move-In day took place last week and Bushnell athletes were heavily involved in the process on multiple fronts. Having already been on campus for a few weeks, fall-sport returning student-athletes did the heavy lifting, quite literally, as they helped out teammates and non-teammates alike with the move-in process to campus living. In addition, Bushnell’s Orientation Team of students featured a wide variety of student-athletes on the staff, helping make the transition to college a successful one for new Beacons.
PROJECT HOPE
With Service playing a major part in the life of all Beacons, Orientation Week once again featured an afternoon of dedicated service as all new students (freshmen and transfers) participated in Get Your Serve On, including all new student-athletes. The culmination of Orientation weekend, students were sent to multiple locations around Eugene and Springfield to assist with Project Hope, an annual event which distributes, backpacks, school supplies, shoes and more to those in need in the community.
Senior cross country and track athlete Sayer Pescosolido, who served as a leader for Bushnell orientation said, “Being able to serve is always a great opportunity for our student-athletes to connect with the community around them. Project Hope allows us to help bring joy to families and be a part of something bigger then ourselves. Everyone put their athletics behind and showed up to give people a taste of God’s love.”
Some members of the Project Hope team at Clear Lake Elementary School also assisted with a project as they helped to clear out former classrooms that are going to be part of a new Bethel School District Community Center.
CANNED FOOD DRIVE
While the newcomers were busy participating at Project Hope, all Beacon returning student-athletes also gathered for the annual Bushnell Athletics Fall Service Day on Sunday. It was another incredibly successful “reverse shopping” canned food drive as teams set out across multiple neighborhoods in Eugene with shopping carts in hand, going door-to-door to collect canned food, dry goods, toilet paper, and paper towels. The teams were able to once again break their all-time record as they brought in over 1800 pounds of food. This annual event benefits FOOD for Lane County and the Bushnell Food Pantry.
Athletic Director Corey Anderson said, “Our canned food drive is a great way for us to start out the academic year with our returning student-athletes! To help serve our community is always an awesome exercise of giving and service for our student-athletes to participate in. It is always rewarding to deliver such a huge amount of food to FOOD for Lane County and they are always shocked with the amount that we collect in just a few hours time, especially during a slower time of year for their collections. We also get to share the food on campus through the Bushnell Food Pantry, which has been a huge blessing to members of our community who are in need.”
Senior women’s volleyball player Jesse Matthews, who returned to Oregon late Saturday night with her team after a tournament in Southern California said, “Our team loved coming together to serve our community. After coming off the road it was really rewarding to have the opportunity to jump right into something as a team, giving back to our community while representing Bushnell Volleyball.”
MOVING FORWARD
The next “milestone” event will be in mid-September as the Beacons participate in Bushnell’s Embrace the City Day. During this event each fall, classes are canceled and all students serve at locations throughout Eugene and Springfield. Student-Athletes serve with their teams and any many cases the relationships that they build in the community lead to more opportunities for service in the future.