CoSIDA Convention attendees who will be in Tampa June 29-July 2 can expect a full program of exciting activities sponsored by corporate partners who have long supported CoSIDA.
The festivities will begin on Sunday evening when the NBA/WNBA continues its long-time support of CoSIDA as the host of the opening evening’s social function. The reception is scheduled for 6:30 to 8:00 pm
Monday evening from 5:30 to 7:00 will be devoted to the induction ceremony of the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame. Five former outstanding student-athletes, who have gone on to distinguished careers after graduation, will be inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame. Of the more than 18,000 student-athletes who have received Academic All-America® recognition, only 98 have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. With the class of 2008, the number of Hall of Famers will now be 103.
Following the induction, ESPN and
ESPN The Magazine will hold its annual thank-you membership reception. ESPN has been a member of the CoSIDA corporate family for many years, while
ESPN The Magazine is marking its fourth year as a partner. It was four years ago that
ESPN The Magazine took over the naming sponsor of the Academic All-America® program, and they have signed a three-year contract extension which keeps them on-board in that capacity until June of 2010.
Tuesday evening’s social function, which will begin at 6:30 pm, will be held at the St. Petersburg Times-Forum, The hosts are returning sponsors Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, and the Heisman Trophy, while the Fiesta Bowl is back after a short absence and the Rose Bowl is making its debut.
We encourage all CoSIDA members, whether they are attending the Convention or not, to send letters of thanks to our corporate partners. Without their continued support, it would be impossible to sponsor the evening functions of the magnitude we have, and, thus, it enables us to keep our convention registration fee well below the industry standard. Their email addresses are the NBA/WNBA (Maureen Coyle—
mcoyle@nba.com), ESPN and
ESPN The Magazine (Wendy Palmisano—(
Wendy.Palmisano@espn.com), the Sugar Bowl (Jeff Hundley--
jeffh@sugarbowl.org), the Orange Bowl (Larry Wahl--
lwahl@orangebowl.org), the Heisman Trophy (Rob Whalen--
robwhalen@verizon.net), the Fiesta Bowl (Shawn Schoeffler--
sschoeffler@fiestabowl.org), amd Gina Chappin--
gchappin@rosemail.org.