By Amanda Card ’12

Since 2008, when Tim Fitzgerald ’08 was honored as the first Middle Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete for the Knights, Arcadia University has recognized more than 250 student-athlete Academic Honor Roll recipients. The 2010-2011 Academic Year yielded the best results in four years, with 72 Arcadia students honored for academic achievement.

Since 2007, every Arcadia intercollegiate Athletic Team has been recognized for either a cumulative or individual academic achievement—and often more than once.

In 2010, the Middle Atlantic Conference named Stephen Neafsey ’11 Scholar Athlete of the Year for Men’s Swimming. Classmate Kellie Reese ’11 received honorable mention by the National Fast Pitch Coaches Association as an Academic All-American, an accolade she earned for each year of study at Arcadia University.

Additionally, Joe Clementi ’11 received an award recognizing his athletic and academic success by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Phila-SIDA (Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-Area.

The Men’s and Women’s Soccer teams weren’t far behind with a team-wide cumulative GPA of 3.31 (WS) and 3.19 (MS), well above the 3.00 mark necessary to be honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NCSAA)—and honor both teams earned it for a second year in a row.

Women’s Field Hockey and Women’s Lacrosse teams have also contributed to the list of athletic programs by individually producing cumulative GPAs over 3.0 every year beginning with the 2008-09 season. Recent graduate Kelly Donahue ’11 was even nominated Scholar of the Week by PhillyLacrosse.com.

Field Hockey Captain Marilyn Beatty ’13 was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, the prestigious national honors society for junior and senior students who are in the top 7.5% of their class. She also won the Gates-Alyea-Breyer Award, given to an outstanding Chemistry student who shows unusual potential for future graduate studies and who is seriously considering teaching as a career. Beatty also has the highest GPA for Arcadia’s female student athletes eligible for consideration.

Math major David Jacobs ’12 joins Beatty with the top cumulative GPA for Arcadia University male athletes. Jacobs has racked up a cumulative GPA of 3.974 and a 4.0 during the last soccer season. Jacobs, a dual-sport student-athlete in men’s soccer and baseball, serves as both a leader and role model for his teammates and other student-athletes.

The Class of 2012 also boasts academic excellence with senior lacrosse player Stephanie Holguin. At the Spring 2011 Honors Convocation, she received the Saul Ewing Pre-Law Advocacy Award for the best brief presentation in Constitutional Law Class.

And lest we forget, our Women’s Softball team was not only a finalist in the MAC championship last spring, but earned a cumulative 3.274 GPA in the process.

“It’s been quite a year for Arcadia scholar-athletes,” says President Carl (Tobey) Oxholm III, a frequent (and loud) fan. “They make Arcadia proud both on and off the field. And I am expecting even more records in 2012!”