University of North Carolina Athletics
New Award Honors Top Academic Performances
March 7, 2019 | Cross Country, Fencing, Featured Writers, Academics
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
They gathered Thursday evening at The Carolina Inn for a night of fellowship, celebration and great food.
Those are the three things that Dr. Michelle Brown, Assistant Provost and Director of UNC's Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes (ASPSA), said 1998 graduate Daniel Rupp hoped for when he approached Carolina Athletics with his vision for a dinner that recognizes the men's and women's teams with the highest grade point averages. Rupp donated the money for the first celebration, held Feb. 28. And it won't be the last.
In what will be a yearly event, members of the men's fencing and women's cross country teams were honored for their academic accomplishments during the 2017-18 school year with a feast at the Carolina Inn's Chancellor's Ballroom. Their coaches, administrators and academic counselors also partook in the celebration, with a total of about 50 people attending
The men's fencing team earned the recognition with a 3.26 team GPA in 2017-18. The women's cross country team achieved a 3.44 team GPA that same year.
"Everybody understands what it takes to balance both their athletic and academic responsibilities," said Ian Head, a senior on the men's fencing team, as he addressed the crowd toward the end of the dinner. "But I think tonight is special because it celebrates something beyond the achievement through tough circumstances.
"It celebrates that as student-athletes, we bring a unique skillset to the classroom, which allows us to succeed as students, without the hyphen. I think that's really special and something that we need to cherish. And I'm thankful we got this great chance to do so."
Although Rupp, the research director for Overlook Investments Ltd. in Hong Kong and a member of the Chancellor's Global Leadership Council, couldn't attend the dinner, he should be pleased with how it turned out.
As Brown said Rupp wanted, the night began with all of the attendees mingling over appetizers. After about 15 minutes, Brown welcomed the crowd and took time to thank Rupp before reading off the student-athletes' collective accomplishments.
Among them, more than 20 different majors and 10 different minors were represented, Brown said. They've earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic team, ACC Academic Honor Roll and Dean's List honors. They are members of the Honor Court, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, the UNC Roosevelt Institute, the Buckley Public Service Scholars program and Honors Carolina, to name just a few.
From there, Brown turned the program over to Kathy Zambrana, Awards Committee Chair and an ASPSA Academic Counselor; and Olivia Dwyer, ASPSA Assistant Academic Counselor and a graduate student in the UNC Sport Administration Program.
In an effort to encourage competition in the classroom, Dwyer and Zambrana came up with the idea of creating two trophies that the men's and women's teams with the highest GPAs will each pass down going forward. As the inaugural honorees, this year's winners voted on the trophy's design.
Zambrana also told the student-athletes about the laminated cards placed on their tables. Each card featured the words "I Aspire To." Below that, there was space for them to write what they aspire to accomplish. Zambrana said the cards were laminated because "we know your dreams and goals are evolving."
"You all are here because you are amazing in the classroom and you all have goals and dreams that you aspire to achieve one day," she said. "You can put that up somewhere and it's a constant reminder as to why you work so hard in school every day."
Zambrana said the cards were inspired by Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham's "I Play For" campaign. Cunningham, who was also in attendance, encouraged the student-athletes to carefully think about what to write on their respective cards.
"Dr. Brown articulated all the achievements you've had to date, and to think those are just the beginnings of your career and your path," he said. "You're going to do great things after you leave this place. And we'll be exceedingly proud of those achievements, just like we are of your athletic achievements, as well."
Along with Head, junior Mady Clahane, redshirt sophomore Blair Ramsey and sophomore Kathryn Mayo of the women's cross country team each spoke during the evening.
Clahane said she initially wasn't sure what she'd say. But after a conversation with one of her professors, during which she explained how much running she and her teammates do each week in addition to their academic pursuits, she came to a realization.
"I was thinking about this and I was like, 'We have some pretty awesome people on this team,'" Clahane said. "I just think the ability for us to do that and not ever really expect recognition from it, but just do it because we know that's what's expected of us as Tar Heels, that's pretty cool.
"We came to Carolina because we wanted to have this balance between academics and athletics, so to be recognized for that is something pretty special."
They gathered Thursday evening at The Carolina Inn for a night of fellowship, celebration and great food.
Those are the three things that Dr. Michelle Brown, Assistant Provost and Director of UNC's Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes (ASPSA), said 1998 graduate Daniel Rupp hoped for when he approached Carolina Athletics with his vision for a dinner that recognizes the men's and women's teams with the highest grade point averages. Rupp donated the money for the first celebration, held Feb. 28. And it won't be the last.
In what will be a yearly event, members of the men's fencing and women's cross country teams were honored for their academic accomplishments during the 2017-18 school year with a feast at the Carolina Inn's Chancellor's Ballroom. Their coaches, administrators and academic counselors also partook in the celebration, with a total of about 50 people attending
The men's fencing team earned the recognition with a 3.26 team GPA in 2017-18. The women's cross country team achieved a 3.44 team GPA that same year.
"Everybody understands what it takes to balance both their athletic and academic responsibilities," said Ian Head, a senior on the men's fencing team, as he addressed the crowd toward the end of the dinner. "But I think tonight is special because it celebrates something beyond the achievement through tough circumstances.
"It celebrates that as student-athletes, we bring a unique skillset to the classroom, which allows us to succeed as students, without the hyphen. I think that's really special and something that we need to cherish. And I'm thankful we got this great chance to do so."
Although Rupp, the research director for Overlook Investments Ltd. in Hong Kong and a member of the Chancellor's Global Leadership Council, couldn't attend the dinner, he should be pleased with how it turned out.
As Brown said Rupp wanted, the night began with all of the attendees mingling over appetizers. After about 15 minutes, Brown welcomed the crowd and took time to thank Rupp before reading off the student-athletes' collective accomplishments.
Among them, more than 20 different majors and 10 different minors were represented, Brown said. They've earned All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic team, ACC Academic Honor Roll and Dean's List honors. They are members of the Honor Court, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, the UNC Roosevelt Institute, the Buckley Public Service Scholars program and Honors Carolina, to name just a few.
From there, Brown turned the program over to Kathy Zambrana, Awards Committee Chair and an ASPSA Academic Counselor; and Olivia Dwyer, ASPSA Assistant Academic Counselor and a graduate student in the UNC Sport Administration Program.
In an effort to encourage competition in the classroom, Dwyer and Zambrana came up with the idea of creating two trophies that the men's and women's teams with the highest GPAs will each pass down going forward. As the inaugural honorees, this year's winners voted on the trophy's design.
Zambrana also told the student-athletes about the laminated cards placed on their tables. Each card featured the words "I Aspire To." Below that, there was space for them to write what they aspire to accomplish. Zambrana said the cards were laminated because "we know your dreams and goals are evolving."
"You all are here because you are amazing in the classroom and you all have goals and dreams that you aspire to achieve one day," she said. "You can put that up somewhere and it's a constant reminder as to why you work so hard in school every day."
Zambrana said the cards were inspired by Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham's "I Play For" campaign. Cunningham, who was also in attendance, encouraged the student-athletes to carefully think about what to write on their respective cards.
"Dr. Brown articulated all the achievements you've had to date, and to think those are just the beginnings of your career and your path," he said. "You're going to do great things after you leave this place. And we'll be exceedingly proud of those achievements, just like we are of your athletic achievements, as well."
Along with Head, junior Mady Clahane, redshirt sophomore Blair Ramsey and sophomore Kathryn Mayo of the women's cross country team each spoke during the evening.
Clahane said she initially wasn't sure what she'd say. But after a conversation with one of her professors, during which she explained how much running she and her teammates do each week in addition to their academic pursuits, she came to a realization.
"I was thinking about this and I was like, 'We have some pretty awesome people on this team,'" Clahane said. "I just think the ability for us to do that and not ever really expect recognition from it, but just do it because we know that's what's expected of us as Tar Heels, that's pretty cool.
"We came to Carolina because we wanted to have this balance between academics and athletics, so to be recognized for that is something pretty special."
Players Mentioned
/ Cross Country
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/ Fencing
/ Cross Country
/ Cross Country
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