The trophy case in the Athletic and Fitness Center is receiving a makeover to help highlight students who excel not only in the classroom but also in their respective sports.

Sports Information director Kailin Nelson took the initiative to get the project underway.

“I’m reorganizing it to reflect our athletic and academic accomplishments, both past and present,” Nelson said. “We always want to keep moving forward, but it’s important to remember where we started and the great achievements along the way that have
laid the groundwork for where we are now.”

The Pacuska Trophy Case, as it’s formally known, is named in honor of Stacy B. Pacuska, the captain of Chatham University’s first women’s varsity ice hockey team. After Nelson looked through the case, she realized there were more accomplishments to showcase, instead of just putting more memorabilia in it.

“Before it was more so ‘we have sports,’ and now it will showcase ourPAC champions, academic award winners, etc.,” Nelson said.

With the increase in athletics on campus, the revamped trophy case space will be used more thoughtfully to spotlight student successes, while still documenting the history and progression of the University’s sports program.

“Our athletic department has been growing over the past few years with more teams and more student-athletes. With this comes more team, athlete and coach achievements, and an exciting part of my job is being able to celebrate and promote these accomplishments in ways like revamping the trophy case,” Nelson said.

There will be no physical construction on or in the cases. The caution tape saying “under construction” was a gimmick she thought would be funny to put up, but it’s also caused her to answer some questions about the trophy case she didn’t expect.

The things that are being removed from the case will not be disposed. Instead, they’ll be moved into the archives in the Jennie King Mellon library so people will still have access to them.

“Ideally, [it will be finished] the week of Feb. 24. If we are hosting a PAC basketball playoff game, fingers crossed, it [will be displayed],” Nelson said. “It will always be a work in progress, though, as we continue to win athletic and academic awards.”