As Olympians gear up for competitions and the campus prepares to welcome the world, the School of Business is trying to help athletes after the medals are awarded.
The business school is working with the World Olympians Association to help Olympic athletes find jobs after the Games.
“Nearly 50 percent of former Olympians live in poverty,” said Jack Brittain, business school dean. “It makes sense, many of these people come from impoverished backgrounds.”
In order to help athletes find jobs, the WOA will host career planning activities in the Christensen Center during the Games.
“A lot of the stuff will be what to do after the Olympics,” Brittain said.
This is the first time the WOA is setting up a career help center during the Games, according to Meredith Morin, marketing and communications director at the business school. Former athletes who have started careers will help this year’s athletes with rsum writing and matching careers with talents.
Every morning during the Games, the WOA will hand out fliers of their events to athletes in the Olympic Village.
The majority of the programming will take place in the Christensen Center commons area, and athletes can also participate in social activities.
“Food made by Wolfgang Puck will be catered in, and on the patio there will be five fire rings for athletes to warm up around,” Brittain said.
Brittain is excited to start the program and hopes to help out athletes.
“Part of what I see and hope for is to do a little part in the big world. If we make a difference in the lives of five people, that’s great,” he said.
He also hopes to recruit some international and national business students.
“I hope athletes will come here, see that Utah is a beautiful setting and we have a great school, and then come here for their education,” he said.
Olympians also know what hard work entails.
“Olympic athletes have an incredible work ethic,” Morin said. “We’re hoping to get business students with that ethic.”
He plans on giving out scholarships to some of the interested athletes, as long as they qualify for admissions to the U.
The WOA also recently opened an office in Osaka, Japan, and the business school hopes to use that resource as well.
About 200 to 300 people will probably use the center daily, Brittain said. The majority of the WOA officers will stay in the Olympic Village.
The WOA has about 80,000 members, all of whom are former athletes. The alumni association was created in 1994 and is supported by the International Olympic Committee.