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1st Student's Major

Communication Studies

1st Student's College

Arts and Humanities

Students' Professional Biography

Kaytlin M. LeMier will be a Junior at Minnesota State University, Mankato as of the fall of 2008. She is committed to her academics in her Speech Communications major, accompanied by an Urban and Regional Studies minor and a Nonprofit Leadership certificate. Having transferred to MSU in her sophomore year her commitment shined through with a 4.0 grade point average her first year. Her interests lay with the nonprofit field and athletics focused around youth having been an athlete herself. Spending much of her time dedicated to academics she has followed her aspirations by volunteering for the local YMCA in Mankato, and also gains valuable experience through her position as the Head Coach for a YMCA nonprofit program entitled The First Tee in her home town of Eau Claire, WI. Currently Kaytlin is in the midst of becoming a certified First Tee coach, which encompasses a minimum three-year time span. Kaytlin M. LeMier is driven to succeed at her academics and gain valuable experience from working with the communities that surround her. Her research on topics of nonprofits, youth, volunteers and athletics are sure to continue in coming years.

Mentor's Name

Warren Sandmann

Mentor's Email Address

warren.sandmann@mnsu.edu

Mentor's Department

Communication Studies

Mentor's College

Arts and Humanities

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between athletes and their responsibility as role models to youth. The study was conducted due to the expressed debate over the expected roles of professional athletes. On one side of the debate are those who feel that athletes choose to be in the limelight, thus being an athlete requires a need to acknowledge that they are role models and it requires that they act accordingly. On the other side are those who feel that athletes may have chosen their profession, but they are entitled to have a "private life" regardless of the youth who may or may not aspire to be like them. The issue in context with youth and the potential influence of athletes as role models lies with three main factors. The three main factors are the moral development of youth, the potential influence by athletes on the behavior of youth, and athletes seen through media as exceptions to the rules.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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