SASS Academic Gala Honors MSU Athletes

SASS GALA AUDIO: Athletic Director Mark | SASS Director Jim | Keynote speaker Tyrone Willingham

April 13, 2010

EAST LANSING, Mich. - - Michigan State's Student-Athlete Support Services hosted the 13th annual Spartan Academic Excellence Gala at the Kellogg Center on Monday night. The Spartan athletic teams and their student-athletes were honored for their tremendous success in the classroom during the 2009-10 academic year. Student-athletes with a sophomore academic standing and a 3.0 cumulative GPA were honored, as well as a number of individual award winners who excelled not only in the classroom, but in other endeavors as well. In all, 240 student-athletes were honored on Monday evening.

Tyrone Willingham was this year's Gala keynote speaker. A three-year Michigan State varsity letterwinner in both football and baseball, his commitment to athletics, community service and strong character has been evident throughout his entire life, both personally and professionally. Born and raised in North Carolina, Willingham walked-on for both the baseball and football teams, earning a scholarship in football after one year. After graduating from MSU in 1977, he continued with the Spartan program as a graduate assistant under head coach Darryl Rogers. As an aspiring head coach, one of his stops as an assistant coach was at his alma mater, and he went on to be the head coach at Stanford (1999-2001), Notre Dame (2002-04), and most recently, the University of Washington (2005-08). Willingham's coaching achievements include being named Collegiate Coach of the Year, and the sixth most influential minority in sports by Sports Illustrated (2002). He has had numerous student-athletes go on to play in the NFL, and brought his 1999 Stanford team to the Rose Bowl. Through all of this, Willingham has always reinforced the importance of developing his players not only on the field, but also in the classroom and the community.

Megan Brown and President Simon

Another highlight of the event was the presentation of the President's Awards, given to the male and female graduating seniors with the highest cumulative grade point average. Women's soccer player Megan Brown and football standout Blair White were this year's recipients. Brown is one of MSU's most consistent performers both on and off the soccer field. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and team captain as a senior, she maintained a 3.983 GPA in Human Biology with a specialization in Bioethics and Humanities while also being heavily involved in community outreach activities and leadership opportunities. Brown will begin her journey toward her goal of becoming physician when she starts medical school at MSU's College of Human Medicine in the fall. White earned First-Team Academic All-America honors, MSU's first in football since 1993. In addition, he is one of just 14 players in program history to earn Academic All-Big Ten honors four straight years. White, a former walk-on, not only earned a scholarship, but through his hard work both on and off the field, was rewarded by being elected a team captain for his senior season - a year which he led the Big Ten in touchdown receptions and earned All-Big Ten honors. He carried a 3.887 GPA in Human Biology, and has already been accepted to the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. His postgraduate studies are on a temporary hiatus, as White participated in the 2010 NFL Combine and will be pursuing a professional football career.

The other award winners of the night included gymnast Kelly Moffitt, who took home the Gwendolyn Norrell Community Service and Leadership Award for her athletic accomplishments as well as leadership and community service. In addition to her Academic All-Big Ten accolades, she was selected as a four-time NACGC/W Academic All-America selection. This Supply Chain Management major showcases her leadership as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee along with serving as an intern in the Athletic Department. Next year, Moffitt will be pursuing a graduate degree in Kinesiology/Sports Administration at MSU while also serving as a graduate assistant in Student-Athlete Support Services.

Football player Ross Weaver was the recipient of the Multicultural Award, honoring someone who best represents the mission and goals of SASS's Multicultural Program. Weaver has shown an outstanding commitment to the multicultural program as well as the overall mission of student-athlete development. While tackling a demanding major (Mechanical Engineering), Weaver always makes time to reach out to children in the community, mentoring them about the importance of academics and sportsmanship. He involves himself in a variety of outreach activities while also serving as a leader and role model to other student-athletes. His vision and leadership on important student-athlete issues has helped to greatly further the initiatives of the Multicultural Advisory Committee.

Provost's Award winner Caroline Powers

In addition, hockey's Chris Forfar and golfer Caroline Powers received the Harold & Raynor Shnider Office of the Provost Award, issued to a male and female MSU freshman who has excelled in academics, community outreach, leadership and athletics. Forfar helped make a difference not only on the ice (he appeared in all 38 games) but also in the East Lansing community. Forfar brought a strong work ethic to the rink as well as the classroom (a Finance major, he had a first-semester GPA of 3.54). He also brought his passion for giving back to the community - he not only got involved with the hockey team's numerous outreach programs, but he also took the initiative to spearhead a student-athlete-driven community food drive in December that gathered more than 1,000 pounds of food for the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Powers came to Michigan State as a highly-successful scholastic golfer, and has continued to grow and improve throughout her freshman season, extending that success both academically and in the community. The Elementary Education major has four top-20 finishes this season for the nationally ranked Spartans, who claimed their third tournament title of the season last weekend. Powers has posted a 3.86 GPA in her first semester at MSU, while also being one of the most involved student-athleteS in the Putting Athletes and Community Together (PACT) Program.

Diver Kayla Kalmbach of the women's swimming and diving team provided the evening's entertainment. A four-year letter winner, Kalmbach is an accomplished musician, as she plays the flute, piano, saxophone and also sings. She has participated in state and regional competitions in both saxophone and voice. An Academic All-Big Ten Honoree, she competed at the NCAA Zone (Regional) Diving Championships in March and was awarded the team's Most Improved Award after the 2008-09 season. After graduation in May, she will begin a job with Dow Corning's Hemlock Semiconductor Company as a plant start-up engineer.

The men's and women's tennis teams were honored with the Athletic Director's Cup, having compiled the best team GPA among the 25 MSU varsity sports. The men's team has a cumulative GPA of 3.50, while the women's squad has a 3.55 GPA. Both teams each won this award in 2009 as well.

The following were the 2010 recipients of the Top Scholar-Athlete Award for each sport:

BASEBALL - Brandon Eckerle
MEN'S BASKETBALL - Mike Kebler
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Mandy Piechowski
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Stephen Humes
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY - Emily Langenberg
FIELD HOCKEY - Julie Mackay
FOOTBALL - Aaron Bates
MEN'S GOLF - Jack Newman
WOMEN'S GOLF- Aimee Neff
GYMNASTICS - Kelly Moffitt
HOCKEY - Joey Shean
ROWING - Megan Kursik
MEN'S SOCCER - Garret Back
WOMEN'S SOCCER - Megan Brown
SOFTBALL - Karen Fox
MEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING - Brian Rockwell
WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING - Jordan Jackson
MEN'S TENNIS - Clark Richardson
WOMEN'S TENNIS - Christine Milliken
MEN'S TRACK & FIELD - Anthony Agrusa
WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD - Ashley Smith
VOLLEYBALL - Jenilee Rathje
WRESTLING - Joel Trombly

Players Mentioned

Anthony Agrusa

Garret Back

Aaron Bates

Megan Brown

Brandon Eckerle

Chris Forfar

Karen Fox

Stephen Humes

Jordan Jackson

Kayla Kalmbach

Mike Kebler

Megan Kursik

Emily Langenberg

Julie Mackay

Christine Milliken

Kelly Moffitt

Aimee Neff

Jack Newman

Mandy Piechowski

Caroline Powers

Jenilee Rathje

Clark Richardson

Brian Rockwell

Joey Shean

Ashley Smith

Joel Trombly

Ross Weaver

Blair White

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