In fact, ask him about how he came to create the Sportsmanship, Leadership and Academic Achievement Models (SLAAM) scholarship, and he鈥檒l start with a surprising confession: He鈥檚 not into big-time sports these days. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 deny I was a nut about any and all of it,鈥 he says, smiling. 鈥淏ut I got to be about 40, and I realized I could probably be doing a little more with my time.鈥
Philipich has, however, recently found his way back to the sports universe, though his fandom is coming from a different place. It all began for him a few years ago when he started attending UM-Dearborn softball games. Initially, it was to show support for a student-athlete in one of his classes. But it soon led to a sort of awakening. 鈥淢any of the UM-Dearborn student-athletes were working hard in and out of the classroom, finding time to raise money to fund their sport, and working part-time jobs to pay their bills 鈥 without the typical motivations 鈥榖ig-time鈥 college athletes receive, like big scholarships and bleachers full of fans.鈥
Soon after, Philipich became an (admittedly loud) supporter of several UM-Dearborn teams. He now attends between 50 and 100 events per year, and has even been known to travel for away games in far-off states. And the scholarship he started, SLAAM, is awarded annually to two student-athletes who demonstrate the scholarship鈥檚 namesake qualities.
鈥淚鈥檓 not about the sport, I鈥檓 about our student-athletes,鈥 Philipich says. 鈥淭he self-motivation, the work ethic 鈥 my colleagues and I love having student-athletes in our classes. They are driven to excel at their sport and their studies. That鈥檚 the kind of character-building that deserves both encouragement and investment, which our student-athletes repay to me many times over with their respect and appreciation.鈥
