My name is Kendall Van Sistine. I am a senior captain of the Swimming and Diving and I am also one of the leaders of Little Scots.Your email this afternoon has left the members of the Swimming and Diving team, not to mention the Men’s and Women’s Water Polo teams, very distraught and upset. Jennie has been a positive, supportive mentor for me in both of these very important parts of my life. I feel it necessary to reach out to you because it is important to show as much support for Jennie as she has given me, my teammates and classmates throughout her time at Macalester.
As assistant coach of the Swim team, Jennie does above and beyond what her job description requires. Not only does she help us with our technique, take times and encourage us through hard sets, but she organizes team meals, flights, travel plans, clothing orders, etc. It is because of Jennie that all the aquatic teams at Macalester are a close, supportive community. She ensures that we support each other in our competitions and she fosters the bond further by organizing a Holiday exchange and dinner for the teams. The work that she does often goes unappreciated and unnoticed, but she continues to devote her time to us because she genuinely cares. Jennie always has our best interests in mind and she does whatever she can to support us as athletes, students and people.

One of the greatest ways Jennie has influenced my time at Macalester is through her invaluable help with Little Scots. As our faculty advisor for Little Scots, Jennie has been the most supportive and helpful mentor. Throughout the past three years, Little Scots has allowed Macalester female student-athletes to act as mentors for girls in our surrounding community. The program has brought together Macalester athletics and the community by promoting supportive relationships between athletes and community members, brought additional supporters to our sports events and introduced young girls to the benefits of collegiate athletics. Over half of the young girls that participate in Little Scots joined because of Jennie’s community contacts through summer swimming lessons. In addition, she has been involved with the Laura Jeffrey Academy in order to provide their students with swimming lessons. With her help we have been able to further work with Laura Jeffrey in the Little Scots program. This year Little Scots has 88 Littles and 50 Big Scots. The program’s size and success would not be possible without the support of Jennie.

The contributions Jennie has made to the Macalester community are innumerable, and I cannot picture Macalester Aquatics without her.

Sincerely,
Kendall Van Sistine