ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - Bard College women's basketball coach Casi Donelan-Dobbins, in association with Associate Dean of Experiential Learning and Civic Engagement Cammie Jones, has announced changes to the Raptors Cup civic engagement competition for the final month of the semester.

Though the spring seasons have been canceled and most students are at their homes, Bard would like to encourage the student-athlete community to stay positive and connected during such a stressful time.

The usual Raptors Cup rules of engagement - like showing up at games and doing community service on campus - have been temporarily altered. And instead of turning in paper forms to receive points, individuals and teams are asked to switch to social media and to use the hashtag #RaptorsCup20 and the hashtag for their team to get credit for what they are doing.

Please click the play button in the image above to hear an explanation of the new guidelines, or click this link to see it on YouTube.

Whether student-athletes are helping to assemble masks for hospital workers, or reading books about personal development, or delivering groceries in their hometowns, the correct hashtags can help them collect Raptors Cup points, even though they're not on campus. All they have to do is take a photo of what they're doing and post it to Instagram with the #RaptorsCup20 hashtag and their team hashtag, and the points will be added to the team total. For dual-sport athletes, the points will go to both teams.

The team hashtags are as follows:

#BardMBB- Men's Basketball
#BardWBB- Women's Basketball
#BardXC- Cross Country
#BardTrack- Track & Field
#BardMSwim- Men's Swimming
#BardBaseball- Baseball
#BardWSwim- Women's Swim
#BardMSquash- Men's Squash
#BardWSquash- Women's Squash
#BardMSoccer- Men's Soccer
#BardWSoccer- Women's Soccer
#BardMLax- Men's Lacrosse
#BardWLax- Women's Lacrosse
#BardMTennis- Men's Tennis
#BardWTennis- Women's Tennis
#BardMVball- Men's Volleyball
#BardWVball- Women's Volleyball

Many of the foundational activities on the Raptors Cup, like Civic Engagement and Career and Personal Development, remain. But with a month left in the semester and everyone on lockdown, several other activities have been added, and some point possibilities have been doubled.

Connecting with each other

• Team get-togethers on Zoom or through Google Hangouts are worth 200 points
• groups of three or more student-athletes meeting remotely are worth 50 points

Working out

• Yoga, going for a run, crushing a Coach Marsh strength workout all worth 50 points
• Technical work, skills work, getting shots up, working on your swing, running sprints - 100 points
• Team workouts on Zoom with the whole squad are worth 200 points

Participation with Student Activities

• If you participate in a Fireside Chat with Tyrin and Armando, or the Thursday Night Live Virtual Edition, Peer Health, Meditation and Reflections Workshop, Virtual Meet-Ups, Workshops or anything else related to what the Student Activities Office is doing, take a photo, put it on Instagram with the proper hashtags and you'll earn 50 points per event

Double points for civic engagement

• If you are getting involved in your local community, you'll earn DOUBLE points, provided there are photos on Instagram and the correct hashtags involved.
• If you are still around Bard's campus, please visit this web site to help find opportunities to help locally. Also, Bard's Center for Civic Engagement has a form you can fill out right here to pitch in.

The updated Raptors Cup guidelines start on Apr. 10 and end at midnight on May 5. The winners will be announced at the Virtual Athletic Awards Ceremony on May 6.