City of Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton provided the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Intercollegiate Athletics with a certificate of commendation at the July 17 city council meeting to honor the Cougars’ consistent academic excellence and community service.
In the certificate, Patton commended SIUE’s student-athletes and coaches for their “outstanding abilities and contributions to SIUE and our community.”
SIUE Director of Athletics Brad Hewitt, NCAA All-American long jumper Julian Harvey (track and field), outside hitter Madison McKinley (volleyball) and catcher Brock Weimer (baseball) accepted the certificate on behalf of the Cougars.
Spring 2018 marked the 24th consecutive semester (12 years) that SIUE student-athletes have achieved a cumulative semester grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher. The departmental grade point average was 3.312 for fall 2017 and 3.3325 for spring 2018.
During the 2018 academic year, an average of 42.4 percent of SIUE student-athletes were on the Dean’s List, and 71 percent of those student-athletes earned above a 3.0. Eighteen percent (41 student-athletes) earned a perfect 4.0 GPA.
In 2017, SIUE’s Graduation Success Rate (GSR) tied for 18th among all NCAA Division I public institutions and #1 in Division I public institutions in Illinois. Since 2013, SIUE’s first year as a D-I school, SIUE’s GSR has been among the top 25 of all Division I public institutions.
Outside the arena of competition, SIUE student-athletes provided 2,100 hours of community service to 27 organizations/agencies during the 2017-2018 academic year.
Photo: SIUE Dir. of Athletics Brad Hewitt, Julian Harvey (track and field), Madison McKinley (volleyball), Brock Weimer (baseball) and City of Edwardsville Mayor Hal Patton.