Placed among an elite caliber of Division-II institutions, Hillsdale student athletes received the President’s Award for Academic Excellence for the second-year running. The award recognized the academic success rate, which is the percentage of students who graduate within six years of enrollment in the period of 2000-17. Tying for the third highest score, Hillsdale was also ranked highest among the institutions awarded in the G-MAC; No GLIAC institution was recognized.
Head football coach Keith Otterbein wasn’t surprised that Hillsdale athletes received the award again.
“The award reinforces the fact that our student athletes truly ‘walk the walk’ every day as defined by the NCAA as ‘Life in the Balance’,” Otterbein said.
NCAA’s ‘Life in the Balance’ initiative emphasizes the student athlete’s integration of academic and athletic performance, and community involvement. An approach in which Hillsdale student athletes dominate according to Don Brubacher, Hillsdale College Director of Athletics.
“Hillsdale College required student athletes to commit to a very high level of academic rigor long before the ‘Life in the Balance’ initiative was launched, so the balance between academic life and athletic commitments has not changed for our student athletes under this program,” Brubacher said.
Brubacher also noted that the award speaks to Hillsdale’s ability to recruit top student athletes. “The extraordinary education our students receive is certainly the primary factor contributing to our ability to recruit top athletes,” Brubacher said. “The fact that our student athletes then excel in our highly rigorous academic environment is an added benefit in our recruiting efforts.”
