Cougar Club to Honor Academic Athletes
The Cougar Club, the official booster club of Brigham Young University Athletics, will honor 289 outstanding Academic Athletes on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The annual Academic Athlete Banquet will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Cougar Room at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Academic Athletic Banquet honors BYU athletes who achieved a grade point average of 3.2 or above.
Keynote speaker for the banquet will be former BYU football player Larry Echohawk. Dr. Echohawk, a professor of law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, served as Idaho State Attorney General; he was the first Native American in U.S. history to serve as a state attorney general. BYU President Merrill J. Bateman will also be in attendance.
"It is remarkable that 48 percent of our athletes have performed at such a high level in the classroom," said Val Hale, Men's Athletic Director. "Our desire is to help these young people be successful in the classroom, as well as in athletic competition."
For many athletes at Brigham Young University the pursuit of academic excellence is as important as their pursuit of athletic excellence.
"Our ultimate goal is to have every athlete who participates at BYU leave with a diploma," said Paul Warner, Director of BYU's Student Athlete Center. "We want our student-athletes to be well-rounded, well-educated people, not just great athletes."
Since Cougar Club started honoring Academic Athletes in 1986 the number of student athletes qualifying for the award has more than doubled.
"We are committed to helping BYU athletes succeed in every facet of their experience at the university," said Michael Middleton, assistant athletic director and Cougar Club executive director. "We are proud to see our athletes succeed in competition and in the classroom."
Financial support from the Cougar Club underwrites the Student Athlete Center's tutoring services and academic mentoring programs for athletes; Cougar Club also provides laptop computers for student athletes to use when they are traveling to represent the university in competition.
"The attitude of academic achievement is a solid foundation for success in athletics," Michaelis said. "I believe our success in the classroom is directly related to our success in athletic venues. The academic banquet has become a nice incentive for the athletes to do well in the classroom."
Also honored at the banquet will be the 12 winners of the Lowe's Hardware Academic Salute.
Contact: Greg Vehar, Assistant Director -- BYU Cougar Club
Phone: (801) 378-1782 or (801) 378-7649
