(Photo Courtesy of Husson Athletics Website)
By: Jennifer Richardson, Student Journalist
Bangor, ME- Husson University
The Fall North Atlantic Conference All-Academic Team has been released, and Husson University student athletes make up fifty-one of the one hundred and ninety-two named to the team. Students on this list must have two years of collegiate play under their belts and maintain a 3.5 GPA or higher. Husson also has three seniors who were awarded Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year in their respective sport. Frank Pergolizzi, Director of Athletics at Husson University is pleased, but not surprised by the number of students named to this team.
“We kind of expect this.” Pergolizzi said of the students who achieved this distinction. “We attract student athletes here who are very serious and very committed to their academics, and who are very serious and committed to athletics as well.”
This is just the beginning of academic achievements for Husson student athletes. A banquet is held each February to recognize all student athletes who keep a 3.4 GPA or higher. Approximately one hundred and twenty students are invited to this. The difference is that this does not have the two year limit, and football is included.
The football team has also set a record this season with sixteen of their athletes being named to the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) All-Academic Team. The previous record was thirteen student athletes achieving this acknowledgement. For football players to be named to this team they must also have completed two years with the team, but must keep a 3.3 GPA on a four point scale. A total of seventy-six student athletes were named to this team out of eight schools in the conference.
Although the school does not require athletes to keep a certain GPA to participate in athletics, they do encourage good study habits as well as working hard on the field. It varies from team to team, but head coaches provide “study hours” and give students the time to pursue help for their academics. All students at Husson have access to the library, tutors, and the writing center on campus. Pergolizzi credits the school itself for producing such great student athletes. “It starts off that we have a quality academic program. We are able to attract students to Husson who first and foremost are confident that they are going to get a quality education… And then secondarily they can look at whatever sport that they’re in and say ‘you know I’m going to have the opportunity to compete for championships.’”
A complete list of the All Academic Athletes can be found on the Husson University Athletics website.
