AUBURN, Ala. – It may come as no surprise that Auburn's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) would hold a competition to determine the designer of its annual t-shirt.
Jack Rogers, a member of Auburn's cross country and track and field teams, submitted the winning entry, employing the Adobe Photoshop graphic design skills he first acquired at Auburn High School.
"They ended up liking the concept of my idea," Rogers said. "We took it from there and made specific tweaks to it."
Auburn Athletics graphic designer Morgan Smith further polished Rogers' design.
"She just took it to a whole another level," he said.
Seeking to summarize the tumultuous events of 2020 while including a unifying theme, the SAAC t-shirt draws from the Auburn Creed by proclaiming, "A spirit that is undivided & unafraid." Below the Auburn logo and power stripe, words in light text are "pain, unrest, COVID-19, racism, anxiety, prejudice, disconnect, chaos and injustice."
As the words become hopeful, the text becomes bolder: "equality, peace, equity, justice, unity, family, respect, harmony, freedom, diversity and inclusion."
"We came up with a pretty long list of words, and then we started to trim it a little bit based on what would convey our message most meaningfully," Rogers said. "We wanted a message of encouragement and unity and how we're going to be able to work through 2020 as a team and whole athletics department."
Track and field's Jack Rogers holds the SAAC unity t-shirt he designed
Christy Greene, wife of Auburn Director of Athletics Allen Greene, contributed some of the messaging.
"Student-athletes are bearing heavy burdens. What I loved about all of the conversations surrounding social injustice was that they knew if they were complacent in this moment, then they were also complicit," she said. "This is their first opportunity to really be invested in a movement that can bring about necessary change for their generation. Their energy left me inspired."
Christy Greene believes t-shirts provide an excellent medium for student-athletes to share their message.
"It's a great way for them to wear what's in their hearts and for their voices to be heard," she said. "This is an opportunity for Auburn Athletics to stand with our student-athletes and help them lead off the field."
This year's SAAC t-shirt design contest yielded a record number of submissions, said Janice Robinson, Auburn Athletics' director of student-athlete enhancement. Student-athletes will wear the shirt while doing community service.
She credits Rogers, the runner turned designer, with having "an observant eye and thoughtful actions."
"I really like how it came out," Rogers said. "I'm proud of the way we've come together and have been so flexible during everything that's going on. I'm excited that we're going to be able to compete and I'm thankful for everyone who helped with the design."
As a symbol of unity, Auburn Athletics coaches and staff will also receive the SAAC t-shirt, emblematic of a family that stands together in victory, defeat and unprecedented crises.
Track and field's Keira McCarrell runs a lap while wearing the SAAC unity t-shirt
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer