302 ProUD

Annual, three-day excursion exposes student-athletes to the wonders that exist beyond campus

Artika Casini, AS05 January 19, 2024

The gravitas of the Delaware jersey—with the name of the First State emblazoned across the hearts of 700 student athletes—is not lost on Athletic Director Chrissi Rawak.

“I’ve always believed that there’s nothing bigger, nothing more important than the team,” she says. “So much of what we do is for the 302. That’s the beauty of athletics. We bring people into our community in ways that foster connection and pride.”

So, when the Fightin’ Blue Hens appear on local, regional and national stages, from lacrosse championships to NCAA basketball tournaments, Rawak wants each player to know exactly what they represent.

In 2023, athletics, admissions, government relations and alumni relations partnered with 22 Delaware businesses and organizations to launch the 302 Tour.

The annual, immersive, three-day excursion included 21 statewide stops connecting UD’s student-athletes with the wonders that exist beyond campus walls: oyster breeding in Lewes, an aquaponics farm in Dover, visits to agricultural and healthcare industries in Sussex County, a clean-up along the Wilmington Riverfront. In one of the most impactful stops, students even walked the hallowed grounds of Dover Air Force Base, where American service members are flown after perishing overseas.

So much of what we do is for the 302. That's the beauty of athletics. We bring people into our community in ways that foster connection and pride."

-Chrissi Rawak
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It’s an enriching education into all things Delaware, with the goal of exposing students to projects and opportunities that may keep them in the 302 long after graduation.

It’s also a way to form partnerships that ultimately strengthen and enhance the state. That could mean Avelo, the state’s new airline, awarding more than 60 free flight tickets at UD games, with more to come in 2024. Or it could mean anchoring the 302 Tour with an only-in-Delaware “Chicken Chase 5k,” held at Dewey Beach’s perennial happy place, the Starboard.

For Rawak, the 302 Tour represents a larger responsibility to ask fellow Delawareans, “What are you working on? What are you trying to solve? How can we win together?"

The 302 Tour flips the paradigm of how to partner, collaborate and bring the campus to the community rather than the community to campus. I love the energy." -Logan Herring
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That unified approach attracted the partnership of REACH Riverside, a nonprofit leading an unprecedented effort to transform the Wilmington neighborhood.

“Relationships are about mutual benefit,” says CEO Logan Herring, who also serves as executive director for the Kingswood Community Center. “The 302 Tour flips the paradigm of how to partner, collaborate and bring the campus to the community rather than the community to campus. I love the energy.”