Hillsdale students donned Halloween costumes and passed out candy to dressed-up children for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s fourth annual trunk-or-treat Oct. 27. 

Students and teams decorated their cars, wore costumes, and set up a mini basketball hoop, T-ball, putt-putt, and Nerf gun games for the kids to play with the athletes.

Carly Callahan, a senior on the women’s basketball team, said she thinks it is important for student-athletes to connect with the community. 

“The idea behind trunk-or-treat is to get our student-athletes to engage with the community,” she said. “The more community engagement we have, the more attendance we’re going to get at games, plus it’s just fun to involve kids in our athletic programs.” 

The SAAC creates opportunities in the community for student-athletes to become more connected with a supportive community, according to Hilsdale’s SAAC webpage. The group also recognizes athletes’ academic successes. It hosts many events throughout the year, including trunk-or-treat and The Charlies Award Ceremony, and raises funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

Alysha Katterheinrich, a junior on the cheer team, said this year is the cheer team’s first time participating in trunk-or-treat. 

“This is our first year getting involved in the community, which is really great,” Katterheinrich said. “I love seeing the kids coming out and some of the girls like to hold our pom poms which makes it so fun to interact with them.” 

Some teams are beginning to be involved in the community, but others give their time weekly to the broader Hillsdale community, according to sophomore tennis player Ané Dannhauser. The women’s tennis team specifically prioritizes community engagement on a weekly basis.  

“We’ve been reading at the preschool doing book buddies every week,” Dannhauser said.

“We’re also hopefully going to do a community tennis tournament to get professors and community members involved with our team.”