Jan. 30, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State hosted a special ceremony Monday evening at the Morgan Academic Center. In a gathering featuring student-athletes, administrators and Penn State faculty, Penn State celebrated its recent historic academic achievements.
Since the Morgan Academic Center opened in June 2016, hanging on the far north wall in the entrance for all to see is a panel of numbers. The numbers are far from ordinary though, serving as beacon of academic success and pride. Side-by-side horizontally displayed, there's Academic All-Americans, followed by Academic All-Big Ten selections with Penn State Athletics' graduation success rate completing the display.
Come Monday, all three set of numbers were due for updates.
Last November, the NCAA reported Penn State student-athletes have a 90 percent graduation rate, which ties the Nittany Lion all-time record, marking an increase of two points from the 2015 report. Additionally, nine Nittany Lion teams earned a perfect 100 percent Graduation Success Rate, up from five teams two years ago.
For perspective, the average for all Division I institutions for students entering from 2007-08 through the 2010-11 academic year is 86 percent, placing Penn State well above the average with the Nittany Lion graduation figure seeing a one point increase in each of the past two years.
Penn State PROUD to represent the Nittany Lions' improved academic success in the Morgan Center. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/zR4t0UpKns
-- Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) January 30, 2018
Also during the fall semester, a fall school record total 117 Nittany Lions were selected Academic All-Big Ten for earning at least a 3.0 grade-point average.
"I think that every opportunity we have to celebrate the academic efforts of our students we should do that and that's really what tonight is about," Penn State director of athletics Sandy Barbour said.
Joined by Penn State president Dr. Eric Barron, both he and Barbour took to the podium to congratulate the group of gathered student-athletes on their academic success.
Academic All-Americans @zaintrain_psu & @hales_yeah changing our first number! pic.twitter.com/2TDExSHrmh
-- Penn State Athletics (@GoPSUsports) January 30, 2018
Boarding a mechanical lift, Penn State CoSIDA Academic All-Americans Haleigh Washington (women's volleyball) and Zain Retherford (wrestling) flipped the far left figure to reflect a new total. Both Washington and women's soccer's Emily Ogle were selected as Academic All-Americans this fall with Washington's third consecutive honor marking Penn State's 200th selection all-time.
NCAA Faculty Representative Dennis Scanlon did the honors updating Penn State's Academic All-Big Ten total, while Barbour closed out the reveal with the graduation success rate.
Among Penn State's widely documented growing athletic success, it's also well known the emphasis Penn State places on excellence in the classroom too.
"That's the beauty of it, that as we get better and better athletically, we're also getting better academically," Barbour said. "Historically, Penn State Athletics has always been known as a place that combines high level academic achievement with high level athletic achievement and that's as true today as it's ever been."
For someone like NCAA Champion Retherford, who also won the prestigious 2017 Hodge Trophy, there's perhaps no better way to describe the combination of pursuing both academic and athletic success than in the word culture.
"Penn State is a place that not only provides you the resources, but allows you to achieve your goals," Retherford said. "I think these numbers up here are a good representation of that and I think the culture here is just that way, so it's awesome to be a part of and I'm extremely grateful for it."