PORTLAND, Ore. – On the pitch, Concordia senior goalkeeper Tori Talbutt is a wall but it’s her work off the field that sets her apart as one of the top defenders in the Cascade Conference. Her work with the Lutheran Malaria Initiative has earned her nomination for the NAIA Dr. LeRoy Walker Champions of Character Award, which will be announced on Saturday.
A two-time first-team All-Cascade Conference selection, Talbutt has modeled the tenets of respect, sportsmanship, integrity and responsibility that the NAIA coverts but it is in the servant leadership tenet that Tori has shined.
“Servant leadership is something I deeply believe in and support,” said Talbutt. “I have been blessed in so many ways, and I feel like it is my honor to give back in some way to my community.”
Over the summer, when many of her teammates and opponents were preparing for the 2012 season, Talbutt traveled to Tanzania to work with the Lutheran Malaria Initiative. Coming back to Portland with the belief that she could help people who really needed it, her work to help raise money to save the African people from the deadly disease spread across campus.
“Traveling to Tanzania and visiting with the many people who have been directly touched by the devastation of malaria opened by eyes to a world far vaster than that I had recognized before,” said Talbutt. “I met people struggling to feed their families while having to fight a disease that is entirely preventable and treatable, while all this time I’ve been sitting at home worrying about my petty problems.”
Her efforts included organizing a fundraising event at a Concordia soccer match, working with other groups on campus to raise awareness and funds as well as standing in front of the Concordia University Board of Regents to share her experience.
Majoring in biology with an emphasis in premedical studies, the Boise, Idaho native hasn’t solely focused on helping eradicated malaria. She was one of two Concordia University students who were accepted into the prestigious Murdock Undergraduate Research Program. Over the summer, she worked with Oregon Health & Science University professor Dr. Sandra Rugonyi in studying the environmental factors that contribute to the development of congenital heart defects.
For Talbutt, the idea that her team and community has bought into her passion for making the world a better place couldn’t make her feel any better.
“My simple act of service to a project that I am passionate about has effectively led my fellow peers to serve and get involved as well, and for that I could not be more proud,” added Talbutt.
To her teammates, her coaches, her professors and the countless people who she has dedicated herself to helping, Tori is the embodiment of what it means to be a Champion of Character.