A Legacy Of Service

Tasha Brozowski and Dillan Fontus — two Maryland student-athletes — recently received nominations for the Big Ten Conference’s inaugural Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award. 

The award recognizes student-athletes like Brozowski and Fontus, whose significant community service contributions align with Jackie Robinson’s legacy of courage, determination, teamwork, persistence, integrity, citizenship, justice, commitment, and excellence.

Each of the 18 Big Ten member institutions nominated one female and one male student-athlete who serves their campus communities and has demonstrated impact, collaboration and teamwork, consistency, commitment, visibility, and advocacy. 

The Big Ten will select two award winners from the 36 nominations later this spring. All remaining nominees will receive individual awards for their community service efforts.

Brozowski — a gymnast — and Fontus — a defensive lineman on the football team — balance academic and athletic commitments with active roles in Maryland Athletics’ community service initiatives. The student-athletes described how much the nomination means to them, highlighting how grateful they feel that their hard work outside competition and the classroom is being recognized. 

“It makes me feel motivated to continue the things that I’m doing,” Fontus said. “Sometimes these service acts can feel like they’re going unnoticed, but [the nomination] has given me the opportunity to shine and motivated me to continue to do even more.”

Brozowski shared a similar sentiment. 

“I don’t do these things to get validation or praise from other people,” she said. “But just the fact that other people are recognizing it will hopefully [inspire] others to get involved. It’s honestly such an honor.”

As a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) executive board member, Brozowski played a key role in bringing the annual Terpsgiving and Adopt-a-Family events to life. She was essential in helping Maryland Athletics set a new record for both collected canned goods at Terpsgiving and monetary donations for the Adopt-A-Family Christmas program. The senior uneven bars specialist has also volunteered at local elementary schools and participated in Maryland’s Good Neighbor Day of Service. 

Brozowksi is currently helping organize a student-athlete-led hygiene drive to benefit a local elementary school in Montgomery County.

“Serving the community here is really important to me because I’ve been blessed to come to College Park as a student-athlete,” Brozowksi said. “The school and the community around it have given me many opportunities to grow personally. Being able to give back to something that gave so much to me is really valuable.”

Fontus's community service work revolves around supporting local youth. The junior D-lineman has packed lunches for elementary school students and their families with Brighter Bites, read to K-2 classes for Big Ten Reading Week, made motivational videos for young athletes for Twin Bridge Sports and participated in charity walks and weightlifting challenges, among other activities.

“It’s definitely important to be serving this community because I know that there’s a lot of children in this area who aspire to be exactly where I am,” Fontus said. “The fact that I play for the flagship program of this state, we got the whole state on our back. So I really felt it was important to give back to the community that gave so much to me.”

Both Fontus and Brozowski cited positive experiences from their upbringings as inspiring their active community service in college. Fontus grew up involved in the church and would help run events with friends and family in his Brownsville, Brooklyn home community.

“I really got to see firsthand how engaging with the community can impact someone’s life,” Fontus said. “These are things that people don't forget and remember their entire life.”

Brozowski learned from her parents the importance of a steady support system, something she hopes to instill in the local communities she’s a part of, especially for those needing outlets for support. 

“My parents definitely put my sister and I first in a lot of important family decisions, which showed me what support, encouragement and kindness looked like,” Brozowski said. “I realized I can provide that to other people in the community who have unmet needs.”

The nominees credit Maryland Athletics, specifically the department’s Maryland Made program, as essential to their community service efforts. 

“I used the foundational skills from my Maryland Made experiences to build my skill set to best provide service to the College Park community,” Brozowski said. 

Fontus said, “[Maryland Made] is on top of all different community outreach opportunities where I get to meet these different people that I wouldn’t have otherwise.” 

Fontus spotlighted the Maryland Made’s Big Ten Fellow — Lonnie Mulligan — as an invaluable resource. 

“Lonnie does a really good job of helping me work on different projects that I see fit for the community,” Fontus said. “She helps me keep everything organized and shows me different ways to get things I want done.”

Known for breaking the color barrier in American professional baseball, Robinson is also remembered for his robust community service and activism. The Jackie Robinson Award nominees reflected on their connection to the legacy of the award’s namesake. 

“To me, Jackie Robinson's legacy means having the courage and determination to do what's right and also use your platform to voice what the community needs,” Borsowski said. 

Fontus admired Robinson’s involvement in the community despite having to persevere himself. 

“He pushed play on everything else he had going on and was still able to get in the community and help people out,” Fontus said. “Even though he was an elite athlete, playing at the top of his game in every sport he played, he was still able to engage and help make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Fontus expressed a special connection to Robinson and the award because he attended kindergarten on the same block where Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers used to play their home games. This proximity to the former location of Ebbets Field means Robinson’s service positively impacted Fontus’ own neighborhood. 

“There’s definitely a community tie where it’s just so local,” Fontus added.

Fontus and Brosowski have no plans to stop serving others after graduation. Fontus hopes to found a youth football camp, and Brozowski intends to pursue a career in healthcare as a physician’s assistant. 

“I’ve been able to help those who are not as fortunate as [I] might be,” Brozowski said. “I think it's given me a deeper sense of self-purpose. I find joy in uplifting people and doing it through these community service acts.”

Fontus hopes to be an inspiration to others through his charity work. 

“I know there were people that were put in my life that put me in the proper position to be where I'm at now,” he said. “I just really want to be, if not that person, something that can lead to someone sparking a passion.”