The Office of Athletic Communications is using social media to recruit student athletes and reach a wider audience of on-campus and off-campus viewers throughout their 2023-24 men’s and women’s athletic seasons at Baldwin Wallace University.   

While athletic events are open for students to attend in person, information surrounding athletics is being shared through social media sources. For example, the athletic communications office, known on Twitter as     @bwgameday, is just one of the places that students, parents and fans can find information surrounding BW Athletics.   

“Athletic communications is responsible for promotion and publicity of Baldwin Wallace’s 28 intercollegiate sports,” said Jeff Miller, the director of athletic communications.   

Miller added that working behind the scenes on any of these social media accounts is a great opportunity for students to gain experience in many different areas of media production.  

Alyssa Klauminzer, an athletic communications student assistant, said that information is spread through informational tweets, livestreams, live stats, photography and sometimes through the radio.   

“It has a positive impact for students, as well as for parents, because they can stay up to date in real time with our teams, find information online for stats and video or articles about the teams and their game results, and provides that opportunity to support teams both in person and virtually,” Klauminzer said.   

Social media is also being used to recruit future student athletes. Both the athletic communications office and the women’s basketball team have reported that they use social media not only for reaching a wider audience but also for recruiting purposes.   

Cheri Harrer, head coach of the BW women’s basketball team, said that the team uses the information that is spread through social media and focuses it “primarily on recruiting.”   

Harrer said that she, too, follows the athletic communications team for the information and stats that are updated in real time as it’s easier to see when she can’t be at the games in person.    

“I follow it because I might be out recruiting, and I want to follow what’s going on,” Harrer said. “I’ll scroll through my Twitter feed to see how the games are going because I can’t sit there and watch the whole video.”  

Disclosure: Alyssa Klauminzer, who was interviewed for this article, has contributed to The Exponent on a freelance basis.