USU Athletics embraces leadership changes
Utah State University’s student section is recognized throughout the country as one of the best. The die-hard student fans work together to create a gameday atmosphere across the board of USU Athletics.
The energy of the HURD would not be possible without the student leaders who volunteer to run the organization. USUSA executive director of athletics and campus recreation and a team of students make up the HURD Committee. The executive director oversees club sports and the HURD Committee. They also act as a student voice representing all students in an athletic capacity. Committee positions open every year, with the executive director voted on by students during the USUSA election cycle.
With elections recently completed, the position is set to turn over this month.
Dallin Wilson, graduate student finishing a master’s in data analytics, filled the position for the 2024-25 year. Wilson graduated with a bachelor’s in statistics last year.
“I got onto campus fall of 2020, and things looked a lot different than they do now. Obviously, there weren’t a ton of events. Athletic events had limited attendance — people wearing masks, everything,” Wilson said in an interview with The Utah Statesman. “It was a very interesting freshman year, but I fell in love with Utah State Athletics and supporting all of our teams very quickly.”
With Wilson set to graduate, Ben Burdette, junior studying healthcare management, is the executive director taking his place.
“This is my second year on the HURD Committee. I was on it last year, my freshman year, and then this year, I served as the operations director,” Burdette said in an interview with the Statesman. “I’ve been working super closely with Dallin as far as the operations side of the HURD Committee goes… I’m super excited to take another step up and serve as president next year.”
Wilson joined the committee the following year and has been involved with the organization since.
“The first year, I was just super excited to be there helping out with whatever,” Wilson said. “The second year, I was the director over game day… That’s always been something I’ve been super passionate about — is improving the atmosphere on game day for our teams but also for our students.”
As executive director, Wilson coordinates the efforts of the committee to offer food and swag giveaways, events, electric gameday experiences and HURD Premium.
“We have a HURD Committee of close to 35 people this year, and they’ve all put in so much hard work behind the scenes,” Wilson said. “We’re always brainstorming. We’re talking about new ideas — new things we can do. A lot of the stuff that we did this year, those were ideas that we started talking about two, three, four months in advance.”
Though the HURD receives some funding through USUSA student fees, a large portion of their funding for giveaways and events comes through the HURD Premium.
“HURD Premium in itself is a huge fundraiser for us,” Wilson said. “We try to make it give back to all the students 10 times whatever they put in. That really helps us kick-start the year and get things going a little bit, and hopefully, the benefits are worth it to everyone who signed up this year.”
In his role as operations director, Burdette worked on the HURD’s larger events such as Campout on the Quad, Midnight Yell, Powderpuff and various watch parties. He has been intricately involved in the planning and implementation of HURD Premium.
Official inauguration for Burdette was on April 18, but the work for next year began before that, starting with the committee. Burdette has named his directors for the upcoming year and selected 32 students to fill the committee after over 50 students applied.
Applications for the committee will open again in the fall. Burdette will look to add three to five students, allowing incoming students the opportunity to apply.
“We try to stay away from super large committees,” Burdette said. “That way, everyone can get an equal amount of work, and people can feel like they’re actually contributing.”
This season, the HURD set a high standard for next year’s leadership, but Burdette said he is up for the task.
“Dallin has done a phenomenal job this year revamping the HURD as far as giveaways and HURD Premium,” Burdette said. “I’m for sure going to continue that with the amount of giveaways and stuff we’re doing at basketball and football and soccer and softball games.”
Burdette plans to do a partnership with local vendor Tys Dyes, which is working on an exclusive HURD Premium shirt.
“We think that that’s going to be able to attract more sophomores and juniors to purchase HURD Premium so that we can do more and give more back to the students,” Burdette continued.
HURD Premium has about 1,800 members this year, and Burdette is hoping to eclipse 2,000 in the year to come.
With the high bar already set, Burdette’s goals and plans have the full backing and confidence of his predecessor.
“Very excited to see everything that he does next year,” Wilson said. “I’m excited to see what the HURD continues to do. I can’t wait to see what it is in one, two, five, 10 years. There’s so much momentum, and I have no doubt that it’s going to just continue to grow and continue to develop.”