BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes (CCACSA) recognizes six student-athletes for their scholastic and community achievements each month. Student-athletes are chosen based on their commitment to academic success and for their devotion to volunteerism and service to the community.
Here are the February 2021 CCACSA’s staff Student-Athletes of the Month:
• TJ Finley, Fr., Football, Ponchatoula, Louisiana (Major: Interdisciplinary Studies)
Nominator – Learning Specialist Molly Ann Walke: “TJ does a great job of time management and planning in order to stay organized and on top of his school work. He regularly advocates for himself and puts forth his best effort to ensure success in the classroom.”
• Eric Gaines, Fr., Men’s Basketball, Lithonia, Georgia (Major: Communication Studies)
Nominator – Director of Educational Support Services Dorothy Kemp: “Eric works hard on his weekly assignments and understands the importance of getting stuff done throughout the week, especially now that he is in season. I’ve seen Eric grow by continuing to tackle more challenging assignments and more demanding course schedules. I’m proud of the work he puts in every day.”
• Ronald Hohmann, R-Fr., Men’s Tennis, Oyster Bay, New York (Major: Sport Administration)
Nominator – Learning Specialist Molly Ann Walke: “Ronald is very organized and excels at time management. He puts forth a lot of effort to succeed in the classroom and helped his team achieve the highest grade point average out of all the sports for the Fall semester.”
• Ben Koch, Fr., Men’s Tennis, Abbeville, Louisiana (Major: Accounting)
Nominator – Academic Advisor Delanie Authement: “Ben is a pleasure to work with and did extremely well in his first semester despite all the challenges he faced as a first-time college student. He goes out of his way to help his teammates and epitomizes many of the values of our organization, i.e integrity, service, accountability and teamwork. Proud is an understatement. The university is lucky to have Ben represent us as a student-athlete.”
• Koy Moore, Fr., Football, Kenner, Louisiana (Major: Kinesiology)
Nominator – Manager of Student Learning Carli Faulkner: “Koy has an extremely hard work ethic when it comes to his sport and his academics. He is respectful, always has a good attitude and wants to succeed in everything he does. He always strives to do better than he did the week before. He is a great example of a student-athlete.”
• Michael Petro, Jr., Men’s Swimming & Diving, Arlington Heights, Illinois (Major: Finance)
Nominator – Academic Advisor Delanie Authement: “Michael epitomizes the phrase “success is not only about greatness, it’s about consistency”. He proved that consistency is key, by finishing out strong in his Fall semester despite having a rigorous schedule academically and athletically. There is never a doubt that Michael will show up and show out each day. I am extremely proud of Michael and appreciate his consistent effort and positive mindset.”
Accountability – Commitment – Success – Integrity – Diversity – Teamwork – Service – Education
It is through living the values of the Total Team Commitment 2017-2022, particularly education, academic success, and service to the community that six student-athletes are recognized as Cox Communications Academic Center Student-Athlete of the month. These values are fundamental to the growth and development of our student-athletes as they enter to learn, then leave to serve.
The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes is a 54,000 square-foot facility comprised of teams for academic affairs, student affairs and information technology, who annually serve more than 500 student-athletes. The purpose of the CCACSA is to provide an all-inclusive, student-centered support structure for all student-athletes from matriculation, through graduation, and life beyond.