PALATINE HILL - With Fall 2009 semester grades now in, over 60% of Lewis & Clark student-athletes received grades above 3.0 (B average) and a very similar number maintained a cumulative GPA of above 3.0 for all their work at the College. Over 46% of student-athletes earned above a 3.25 GPA for the fall semester and over 44% maintained that cumulative average for all their work at L & C. In a testament to the difficulty of the curriculum, only 7 student-athletes earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for the fall semester.

"I am extremely proud of the academic performance our student-athletes demonstrated in the fall. Each of them balances the rigorous demands of a Lewis & Clark education with their athletic schedules and they achieve success in both areas," said Dean of Students Celestino Limas. "Our community is enriched by their commitment to coursework as it allows them to be role models for how to balance academics with co-curricular involvement. This is what makes our student-athletes champions in the classroom as well as in athletic competition and I applaud them for their hard work."

For the 321 students on the college's 19 varsity sports teams, these grades are important for their implications for eligibility, for participation, and toward their collective goal of mirroring the campus population in measures of academic performance. Emphasis on completing their academic program and graduating from the highly rigorous liberal arts institution is the prime objective of their college experience. Besides the academic rigor of their academic classes, unlike many colleges in the Northwest Conference, Lewis & Clark student-athletes do not receive a grade for their participation in varsity sports, which impacts the number of LC students who ultimately qualify for the honor of Northwest Conference scholar athlete.

Reflecting the high achievement of our student-athletes fourteen of the 19 Pioneer varsity teams had at least half their rostered athletes earn above a 3.0 GPA for the semester as well as for their cumulative GPA. 10 of these teams had 75% of their team earn at least a 3.0 GPA.

As information on Dean’s List recipients is released later this month, we will announce the particularly high achieving varsity teams and individual student-athletes. It is the aspiration of the College for our student-athletes to be as competitive in their athletic pursuits as they continually demonstrate they are in the classroom.