Athletics Welcomes Faculty Back to Campus
8/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
With the 2015-16 academic year set to begin next Monday, Liberty Athletics welcomed the faculty back to campus on Tuesday during the department's annual All Faculty Appreciation luncheon.
Faculty members returned to campus on Monday to begin a series of meetings and orientation sessions in preparation for the upcoming academic year.
To show its appreciation for the partnership athletics has with the academic community, Liberty Athletics held its eight annual All Faculty Appreciation luncheon on the Club Pavilion level of the Williams Stadium Tower.
More than 400 faculty members attended the luncheon, which included a short address from Director of Athletics Jeff Barber. Barber thanked the faculty for what they do as a part of Liberty's overall student-athlete experience.
Liberty student-athletes continue to win both on the field and in the classroom last, as the athletics department finished the 2014-15 academic year with a 3.14 cumulative grade point average (GPA).
This marked the second year in a row Liberty's student-athletes have posted a cumulative GPA above a 3.10 mark. During the 2013-14 academic year, Liberty's student-athletes combined for a 3.13 cumulative GPA, which was the highest recorded mark in athletics department history.
Under the direction of Liberty's Senior Associate Athletics Director for Academic Affairs Kristie Beitz, Liberty currently has 17 of its 20 NCAA Division I athletics programs with a cumulative team GPA above a 3.0 mark following the 2014-15 academic year.
A total of 287 of Liberty's 484 student-athletes recorded a 3.0 or higher GPA during the 2014-15 academic year, with 13 teams surpassing the 3.0 threshold. Additionally, 34 student-athletes posted a perfect 4.0 GPA during this past academic year.
The women's tennis program finished the academic year with a 3.79 team GPA to lead Liberty during the year. The Lady Flames, who finished the year with a program-best 19-5 overall record, also hold an athletics department best 3.65 cumulative team GPA.
The men's tennis program led all men's athletics programs with a 3.30 team GPA in 2014-15 and with a 3.33 cumulative team GPA.
Liberty had six student-athletes earn Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards during the 2014-15 academic year: Football – Mitch Hanson; Women's Basketball – Ashley Rininger; Women's Tennis – Brittany Yang; Men's Outdoor Track & Field – David Scouten; Softball – Megan Robinson; Baseball – Alex Close.
A total of 10 Liberty student-athletes were named to Capital One Academic All-District teams, while five student-athletes have been named a Capital One Academic All-America ® first team during the academic year.
