Jan. 10, 2008

SAN MARCOS - The Texas State women's basketball team participated Tuesday in the inaugural "Elite Eight" Luncheon held in the Sac-N-Pac room at Bobcat Stadium.

The luncheon was an event designed to provide women's basketball student-athletes an opportunity to interact on a personal level with successful professional women in their chosen career field.

"This is one of the events we have for our student-athletes to prepare them for life after college", said Texas State Head Coach Suzanne Fox. "We really pride ourselves on developing the whole person at Texas State, and this event is one avenue we have in place to assist in their career development."

Special guests at the luncheon included Dr. Patty Shafer, superintendent of San Marcos CISD, Dr. Denise Smart, Dean of the McCoy School of Business, Dr. Rosalinda Barrera, Dean of Education, Dr. Debbie Thorne, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs, Jill Pankey, Art & Design Lecturer, Sharon Miley, Sociology Senior Lecturer, and Lisa Dvorak, San Marcos Assistant Chief of Police.

The student-athletes gained valuable insight and knowledge about a profession or career path in which they have a high level of interest and also learned lessons from the real life experiences and challenges that each of the special guests overcame to achieve success. The student-athletes were assigned to table based on their intended majors and enjoyed a relaxed question and answer session with the special guest who has had success in their field.

"The Elite Eight Luncheon was a huge success for everyone involved," said Fox.