Graduate student wide receiver Isaac Vance won the annual Humanitarian Award for his community service and leadership efforts during the Kent State football team’s trip to Boise, Idaho for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. 

The award is given to one player from each team that participates in the game, formerly known as the Humanitarian Bowl. 

“It was awesome,” Vance said. “Surprising. It’s a blessing. I was really excited to hear my name. It’s a combination of the people around me. It really doesn’t have a lot to do with me, people that I have in my corner helped me along the way.” 

Vance is the president of the Kent State’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), which is an organization of student-athletes that help provide insight on the student-athlete experience, offer input on rules and policies that affect athletes’ lives and serve as a liaison between the athletes and the administration. 

Vance is also on both the Mid-American Conference and NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committees and the D-I Football Oversight Committee, which allows athletes to develop a perspective on rules and regulations in college football.

He is a Kent State student ambassador and part of the team’s second-and-seven club, where he reads to local elementary school children. 

Players from both KSU and Wyoming participated in the Albertson’s Tackle Hunger event on Friday. Student-athletes helped package over 42,000 meals for people in need.

Jimmy Oswald is a sports editor. Contact him at [email protected].