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The National Football Foundation and Fidelity Investments® Launch Faculty Salutes Initiative
The NFF and Fidelity join forces to recognize faculty athletics representatives' critical role in supporting the interests of student-athletes nationwide.
DALLAS, Dec. 8, 2011 - The National Football Foundation (NFF) announced today that it has launched a new initiative, sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans in higher education1, that will honor the significant contributions of faculty athletics representatives across the nation.
"For more than 150 years, faculty athletics representatives have played a critical role in the overall educational experience of our country's student-athletes," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are proud to join with Fidelity to highlight the pivotal support that faculty athletics representatives provide every day to ensure our nation's student-athletes succeed on and off the field."
The new initiative is an extension of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, which honor college football's most outstanding student-athletes with scholarships to continue their post-graduate educations. It will annually honor the faculty athletics representative from each school with a NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award winner for their role in ensuring a strong connection between the academic and athletic experiences of our nation's student-athletes.
Fidelity, which is also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, has taken on a leadership role with the new initiative as a natural extension of its ongoing support of the scholar-athlete ideal and commitment to higher education nationwide. As part of the new initiative, the honorees will be recognized, and an $80,000 donation ($5,000 per school) from Fidelity will be made to support the academic support services for student-athletes at each school.
"It requires a team effort to fulfill the educational mission at our nation's colleges and universities," said John Ragnoni, executive vice president, Fidelity Tax-Exempt Retirement Services. "We strongly believe in the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and wanted to do more to recognize some of the individuals who are helping our nation's athletes excel. By making a financial contribution to each school, we aim to highlight the role each faculty athletics representative has played in producing a NFF National Scholar-Athlete, while also supporting their efforts to produce the next generation of scholar-athletes."
For 2011, 18 faculty athletics representatives from 16 schools will be recognized. They include (with the names of the NFF National Scholar-Athletes from their respective schools in parentheses):
• Colorado School of Mines, Richard Wendlandt (Clay Garcia, QB, 3.91 GPA)
• Delta State University, Cooper Johnson (Micah Davis, QB,4.0 GPA)
• Kansas State University, BeEtta Stoney (Tysyn Hartman, DB, 3.57 GPA)
• Michigan State University, Michael Kasavana (Kirk Cousins, QB, 3.68 GPA)
• Northern Illinois University, Jan Rintala (Chandler Harnish, QB, 3.65 GPA)
• Northwestern State University, Joseph Jody Biscoe (Yaser Elqutub, LB, 3.85 GPA)
• Purdue University, Jeff Bolin & Christie Sahley (Joe Holland, DB, 3.96 GPA)
• Texas A&M University, Thomas Adair (Ryan Tannehill, QB, 3.63 GPA)
• U.S. Military Academy, Colonel Cindy Jebb (Andrew Rodriguez, LB, 4.14 GPA)
• U.S. Naval Academy, Christine Copper (John Dowd, OG, 3.91 GPA)
• University of Dubuque, Jean Holdener & Jonathan Barz (Michael Zweifel, WR, 3.90 GPA)
• University of Georgia, David Shipley (Drew Butler, P, 3.62 GPA)
• University of South Dakota, Christina Keller (Chris Ganious, RB, 3.81 GPA)
• University of South Florida, John Belohlavek (Chaz Hine, OL, 3.86 GPA)
• Washington State University, Ken Casavant (Jared Karstetter, WR, 3.61 GPA)
• Yale University, Penelope Laurans (Patrick Witt, QB, 3.91 GPA)
"Honoring the faculty athletics representatives from the schools with NFF National Scholar-Athletes makes perfect sense," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "There is no group more committed to the well-being of our student-athletes, and the NFF National Scholar-Athlete success stories provide a natural vehicle for emphasizing the important contributions of the faculty athletics representatives."
The NFF consulted with the I-A Faculty Athletics Representatives Board to design the initiative and the organization will continue to collaborate on its implementation.
"On behalf of all faculty, I applaud the NFF and Fidelity Investments for focusing on the academic achievements of college athletes," said Jo Potuto, the Faculty Athletics Representative at the University of Nebraska and the chair of the I-A Faculty Athletics Representatives Board. "The NFF National Scholar Athlete Awards provide major assistance to the best and the brightest and underscore the unique place that athletic competition holds in our nation's colleges and universities. I want to thank Fidelity Investments and the NFF for this new initiative and acknowledging the role of faculty athletics representatives. The contribution to athletics' academic services will be put to good use."
About the National Scholar-Athlete Awards
The NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, were established in 1959 as the first initiative in history to honor scholar-athletes with post-graduate scholarships for their combined athletic, academic and leadership abilities. In 2011, Fidelity Investments became the first official sponsor in the 53-year history of the program, which has awarded more than $9.8 million to 756 individuals since its inception. The program currently provides $300,000 each year in post-graduate scholarships to the nation's top scholar-athletes from all levels of collegiate play, and is one of the most prestigious honors in all of sports.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is comprised of a nationally recognized group of media, College Football Hall of Fame inductees, and athletics administrators. The committee traditionally selects 15 to 17 scholar-athletes from across the country for these prestigious $18,000 fellowships, and they consider candidates from all levels of college football, including the Division I Bowl Subdivision, Division I Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and the NAIA, in making their selections.
Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a grade point average of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship.
Notable past NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award recipients include actor Mark Harmon (UCLA); Hampden-Sydney College President Chris Howard (Air Force); NASA astronaut Leland Melvin (Richmond); former Dateline NBC anchor Stone Phillips (Yale); Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club Billy Payne (Georgia); record-setting NFL quarterback Peyton Manning (Tennessee); famed NFL quarterback Steve Young (BYU); and Heisman Trophy winners Terry Baker (Oregon State), Gary Beban (UCLA), Doug Flutie (Boston College) and Tim Tebow (Florida).
For more information regarding the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards or the College Football Hall of Fame programs, please visit www.footballfoundation.org
ABOUT THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION & COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME
Founded in 1947 with early leadership from General Douglas MacArthur, legendary Army coach Earl "Red" Blaik and immortal journalist Grantland Rice, The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame is a non-profit educational organization that runs programs designed to use the power of amateur football in developing scholarship, citizenship and athletic achievement in young people. With 121 chapters and 12,000 members nationwide, NFF programs include the College Football Hall of Fame, the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments, Play It Smart, the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Alumni Association, and scholarships of more than $1.3 million for college and high school scholar-athletes. The NFF presents the MacArthur Bowl, the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, and releases the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Standings. For more information, please visit www.footballfoundation.org.
1 LIMRA Not-for-Profit Market Report, First Quarter 2011.
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