Eagle Scholars soar in number and academics

^{Carson-Newman freshman Logan Townsend, left, receives congratulations for Head Football Coach Mike Turner at this year’s Eagle Scholars Ceremony.}

(Sept. 8, 2017) – What began as an idea to champion Carson-Newman University athletes dedicated to academic excellence has become an avenue to serious scholarship among members of the University’s 19 sports team. There are 177 Eagle Scholars for the current year, a 146 percent increase from 2013’s charter group of 72.

The University recognized this year’s members at its 5th annual Eagle Scholars Ceremony held in Holt Fieldhouse on Sept. 7.

“We saw that athletes often get a bad rap, and we wanted to highlight and celebrate those who were doing great things,” said Amy Humphrey, who with colleague Gloria Walker developed Eagle Scholars. The program recognizes academic achievements among Carson-Newman student-athletes. Those who attain a GPA of 3.25 or more are named Eagle Scholars and receive a patch to wear for their uniforms during regular season competition.

“It’s really become a great thing,” said Humphrey, noting that the program has grown in number every year. “It’s such a big deal for the students, and it has gotten competitive amongst the teams. People want to be an Eagle Scholar and teams want to win the Director’s Cup.”

This year C-N’s softball team was presented the Director’s Cup by Vice President for Athletics and Athletic Director Allen Morgan. The cup honors a team whose members lead in several areas, including athletic performance, scholarship and character of team members.

“Every sports team showed an increase in the number of Eagle Scholars,” said Walker. “This is a true testament to the commitment and dedication of our student-athletes, our coaches and our faculty and staff as they achieve academic excellence.”

This year also marks the first year that the program includes the introduction of the Gold Scholars. These honorees received a golden patch to wear on their uniforms for maintaining a GPA higher than 3.75. There are 66 such gold scholars in this year’s program.