LA VERNE, Calif. — A total of 152 University of La Verne student-athletes who have attained a cumulative 3.5 grade-point average or higher were honored at the 13th annual Scholar Athlete Luncheon, held Monday in the Multi-Purpose Ballroom at Sara and Michael Abraham Campus Center.
The honorees for the event included La Verne student-athletes and Athletic Training students who attained a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 or higher or earned a 3.5 or better in the Fall 2016 semester.
Members of the campus community, including faculty, staff and administrators were on hand to recognize the academic achievements of the student-athletes. Provost Jonathan Reed praised the student-athletes for their outstanding leadership and teamwork skills, quoting basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who said, "One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team."
Senior Taylor Schulze of the women's track and field team and senior Ashton Edior of the baseball team spoke on behalf of the students, reflecting on their academic and athletic successes at La Verne.
Edior shared an early memory of learning why school comes first. "Academics is all about effort," he said. "What you put in is what you get out. The lessons I've learned here are some of the lessons I look forward to using for the rest of my life."
Schulze, who was fittingly in between class and a lifting session said, "My experience here has been amazing. School has always been put first before athletics and being an athlete is hard but its also hard to be a student."
Both Schulze and Edior are Kinesiology major who sport an identical 3.92 cumulative GPA, including a perfect 4.0 in Fall 2016 semester.
Women's Soccer claimed the "team GPA champion" honors with the highest overall team grade point average of 3.46. Men's Golf team had the highest team GPA of men's teams with a 3.36.
