The Numbers Behind Academics

My world is constantly surrounded by numbers.  I spend time literally everyday working on statistics, records, and even playoff probabilities.

Many of those numbers are told often (i.e. 19 MCC Men’s Soccer Championships), but the ones that are not as public have impressed me the most lately.

Take a look at these numbers:

• 50 NAIA All American Scholar-Athletes in 2008-09
• 52% of our 2009-10 incoming class entered with high school GPA’s of over 3.7
• 22% of that class entered with 4.0 high school GPA’s

Nearly every college athletic program in the country sells their academics as a big part of their programs.  Most of them, rightfully so because in the end, we are educational institutions.

After two years at Goshen College, however, it still amazes me what talented and intelligent student-athletes we have here and how well we are preparing them for their future outside their sport.  I constantly hear stories of alumni who have gone on to be doctors, scientific researchers, teachers, and engineers.

The numbers don’t lie.  The Maple Leafs 50 All American Scholar-Athletes last year was far and away the most in the conference and more than double any other year in Goshen history.  To me, that only says we are still moving forward.

Recently, my assistant Jordan Kauffman (who did an excellent job, BTW) and me had some fun with the student-athlete concept.  With the help of senior Tina Peters – a 4x NAIA National Champion race walker and 2-time All American Scholar-Athlete – we created this video that features what Maple Leaf athletics is all about in regards to academics.  Hope you enjoy!