For Immediate Release
Contact: Lea Ann Scales
Assistant Vice President of
Public Relations and Marketing
Phone: 508-929-8018
April 4, 2011
(Worcester, Mass.) -- Worcester State University will celebrate the academic achievement of its student athletes, Thursday April 7 at 2:30 p.m. in the Student Center Foster Room. Nearly half of all WSU fall 2011 student athletes have achieved a 3.0 grade point or higher.
The National College Athletic Association (NCAA) is promoting its “Student First,” initiative and celebrating academic excellence among college athletes nationwide. “I am so proud that our Worcester State student athletes are exemplifying the NCAA ideal,” said WSU Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Sibyl Brownlee.
Of the 399 fall 2011 student athletes, 186 received a 3.0 GPA or higher. Sixty eight of those athletes received a 3.2 GPA or higher.
Notably, the Women’s Field Hockey team has scored the highest GPA for any field hockey team, in any division, in the nation. As part of the event, the members of the WSU Women’s Field Hockey team will receive the National Academic Award in recognition of the team’s record 3.57 GPA. “It is particularly difficult to be a student athlete,” noted Brownlee. “Practice and dedication to the sport takes a serious commitment. Many of our Women’s Field Hockey team mates are enrolled in demanding majors and have achieved the highest GPA of all field hockey teams in the nation. That’s quite an achievement.”
The Lancer Field Hockey team were among 120 total institutions to be honored with the Gladiator/SGI NFHCA National Academic Team Award. To be honored with the team award, a team must have a fall semester grade point average of 3.0 or higher.
The other schools listed as having the best grade point averages included Goucher College (3.55), Division III National Champion Bowdoin College (3.52), Haverford College (3.50), Swarthmore College (3.48), Eastern Univesrity (3.47), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (3.46) and Vassar College (3.46).
WSU recorded an outstanding team GPA of 3.57 on the standard 4.0 scale. Out of the 19 field hockey players who competed last season, 18 notched over a 3.0 and 12 registered a 3.5 GPA or better.
In the last seven years, Worcester State University is the only public institution to have a top-ranked grade point average and they are one of three to be ranked in the top five. Richard Stockton was a runner-up for the team award last year and St. Mary's College of Maryland was honored in 2004, 05 and 06.
Overall, WSU was one of 18 public schools honored by the NFHCA out of the 120 total institutions.
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