Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Recognizing Our Student-Athletes

To the Editor:
Re: “An Airball in Academia” [The Hoya, Feb. 4, A2]
As President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, I felt the need to respond to this article in defense of our student-athletes. When athletes are recruited to Georgetown, they know they will be challenged with balancing vigorous class schedules, multiple practices and extra time spent in the training and weight room becoming the best athlete they can be. They know they are expected to maintain a certain level of academic success that goes beyond the NCAA requirements.

As it is, there is an overwhelming amount of evidence from our student-athletes to contrast the assertion made that we have a culture of underperformance on campus. For example, volleyball had a cumulative Big East leading team GPA of 3.5 last year with two graduates achieving magna cum laude honors at graduation. Men’s and women’s track boasted team GPAs of 3.14 and 3.18, respectively, in 2013. Football had 25 student-athletes named to the Patriot League all-Academic Team, led by Aaron Aiken who achieved the prestigious honor for a team-leading fourth time. In the fall of 2013, the 700 student-athletes at Georgetown achieved a cumulative 3.2 GPA and saw 232 athletes who received academic honors for their work in the classroom. There are certainly more examples of academic achievement that could also be named here, but the list is too long to name all of them.

Georgetown student-athletes work extremely hard for the Georgetown community and deserve respect and recognition for their success not only on the field, but also in the classroom. The Georgetown athletic department has a long history of academic success for student-athletes and will continue to strive for that as we move forward with our athletics programs.

Annalee Abell
SAAC President
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