Committee plans race day

As you look around Bill Armstrong Stadium on race day and see everything from the advertising banners and infield decorations to the jerseys and pit boards associated with each team, you can thank one specific group of IU students for its contribution in putting it all together: the IU Student Foundation Steering Committee.\nThe IUSF Steering Committee is comprised of 25 seniors who coordinate and sponsor all IUSF events, from IU Sing to the Little 500. Within the 25-person Steering Committee, there are seven smaller committees including the Little 500 Cycling Committee (L5C2) and Pre-Race committees which work specifically with the coordination of activities on race day and other events leading up to the race.\nL5C2 Committee member and senior Rhiannon Rossi said she believes the Steering Committee plays a vital role in bringing the riders and Student Foundation together.\n"We are the riders' link to the Student Foundation," Rossi said. "We are in charge of all the track practices and we hold formal meetings along with Riders Council with all of the riders. Our main duty is maintaining the track and everything to do with the riders."\nIUSF Assistant Director and Little 500 Coordinator Alex Ihnen has been impressed with this year's Steering Committee and their work in helping the Little 500 tradition continue to grow. Ihnen said that things continue to get added to the race and set up every year to make it better without losing any of its current image as 'The Greatest College Weekend.'\nIhnen has experienced the race as a rider and now as an advisor of the Steering Committee. He now knows both the riders and Steering Committee are vital to a successful race.\n"As a rider I did not know the Steering Committee at all," Ihnen said. "Of course you would not have a race without the riders, but the riders have 300 IUSF student volunteers help them to put on a race. Everything anyone sees on race day is done by the Steering Committee; all things are coordinated and run by the students."\nWhile the primary duties of the L5C2 Committee are to deal with the riders, series event coordination and the management of race day, the Pre-Race Committee is notably responsible for all events leading up to the race on race day as well as pit boards, sponsor signs and the gathering of officials and judges.\nSenior Erin McGonigal is a member of the Pre-Race Committee and said their committee has a down to the minute outline of events leading up to the green flag.\n"Our main focus is the race day agenda," she said. "We time everything out and have a play-by-play outline of all the pre-race stuff. We are responsible for the track setup and all decorations."\nThe Marketing Committee of the Steering Committee also plays a vitally important role leading up to the race in organizing sponsors for the race and working with all media outlets to produce coverage of the events.\nSteering Committee members work strictly on a volunteer basis under IUSF and in the mind of Ihnen, that makes their work ethic and dedication all the more evident.\n"One of our main goals is to have students helping other students with putting on events on campus to make the college experience better for all students at IU," Ihnen said. "The amount of work they all put in is crazy, but for them it is a forum to contribute and have an effect on the university"