Illinois State Student-Athletes Honored For Academic Excellence

NORMAL, Ill. – Over 200 Illinois State student-athletes were recognized Tuesday night inside the Aaron Leetch Club at the Academic Excellence Awards for earning a 3.75 semester GPA or better in the spring 2022 or fall 2022 semester.

"Congratulations to all of our Academic Excellence Award recipients," ISU Director of Athletics Kyle Brennan said. "Our student-athletes continue to excel at a high level not only in competition, but also in the classroom. I'm blown away each semester when these numbers come out just how many of them have 4.0 and make our AFNI Honor Roll. Their hard work and dedication is to be commended, and we can all be proud of their efforts."

Student-athletes in attendance were welcomed to the event by Brennan and received a heartfelt message of congratulations from ISU Interim President Dr. Aondover Tarhule. Each student-athlete in attendance was then presented with a gift from the department, thanking them for their hard work and dedication.

"It's always a great day when we can recognize the amazing accomplishments by our Redbird student-athletes in the classroom," ISU Assistant Athletics Director for Academics & Life Skills Joe Klausner said. "What isn't necessarily important is the final number (GPA), but the journey the students take to achieve their tremendous individual results. It takes goal setting, effort, and challenging oneself to achieve these types of numbers and our student-athletes should be very proud of their academic accomplishments."

Among the student-athletes honored were 120 from the fall 2022 semester and 112 from the spring 2022 semester that achieved perfect 4.0 semester GPAs. Those honored at the awards ceremony, combined with the remainder of their student-athlete counterparts, helped the department achieve a 3.27 GPA last spring and assisted in tying the departmental GPA record of a 3.36 this past fall semester.

"Not only are these Redbirds stars in the classroom, but they are great ambassadors for their teams, our department and institution," Klausner continued. "Being a full-time student and dedicating twenty hours per week to their athletic craft is no easy feat and it shows our Redbirds take pride in what they seek to accomplish.  I would like to thank the faculty and staff at this institution that works to support not only our Redbirds but the larger campus community of students.  Their dedication to teaching and impacting the student experience here at ISU is first class."

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.