BATON ROUGE — Over 160 LSU student-athletes, all carrying at least a 3.0 grade point average, will be honored on Sunday, May 2 at the annual Cox Communications Academic Excellence Gala.
The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel with former Tiger quarterback Bert Jones serving as the Master of Ceremonies. Other speakers at the event include LSU Director of Athletics Skip Bertman and LSU coach Nick Saban.
“The success that we are having academically goes back to building a culture that makes academics and performing in the classroom just as important as athletics,” Dr. Roger Grooters, who serves as the Executive Director of the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes, said. “Our student-athletes have done a tremendous job of focusing on what it takes to be successful in the classroom.
“This type of success could not have been achieved without the support of our coaching staff. They have been very supportive in helping us achieve our goals academically.”
Among the highlights of the gala will be the presentation of the 2004 Wally Pontiff, Jr., Award, which is presented this year to the top seven student-athletes at LSU who are at least a junior in academic standing.
Among the recipients of this year’s Wally Pontiff, Jr., Award include four student-athletes with a 4.0 grade point average led by football’s Rudy Niswanger (4.0 gpa in kinesiology) and Rodney Reed (4.0 in accounting), soccer’s Chelsea Agar (4.0 in biochemistry and sociology) and golf’s Devon Day. (4.0 in journalism). Reed, who recently signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons, graduated last May with a 3.94 grade point average in accounting. He’s currently enrolled in graduate school.
Other recipients include swimming’s Margaret Beadle (3.95 gpa in biological sciences) and Margaret Moore (3.96 gpa in math), and gymnastics’ Lauren Companioni (3.913 gpa in psychology).
In addition to the individuals awards that will be handed out at the gala, the women’s swimming and diving team will be recognized for having the highest grade point average among LSU’s women’s teams with a 3.258 combined grade point average.
LSU’s men’s golf team, with a combined grade point average of 3.156, will be honored for having the highest average among the men’s teams on campus.
The criteria for being one of the 160 student-athletes who will be honored on Sunday include being a member of the LSU Athletic Director’s Cup for Academic Excellence, being selected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll or being a Chi Alpha Sigma National Scholar-Athlete.
Among those meeting the criteria include 33 members of LSU’s national championship football team as well as 35 members of the Tigers’ national champion men’s and women’s track and field teams.
First round NFL selection Michael Clayton, along with third round pick Stephen Peterman and seventh round selection Matt Mauck will all be honored for their academic accomplishments. Clayton and Peterman were members of the 2003 SEC Academic Honor Roll, while Mauck was selected to both the SEC Academic Honor Roll as well as the Athletic Director’s Cup.
Former Tigers Collis Temple, Jr. and Dr. Cecilia Montani Cuntz will be honored as the 2004 LSU Scholar Alumnus of the Year. Temple played basketball for the Tigers in the 1970’s, while Cuntz was a gymnast at LSU from 1983-86.