D2 ADA Awards Latest Example of CHC’s Commitment to Student-Athletes
Chestnut Hill College has acknowledged 56 individuals who have earned the Division II Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) Academic Achievement Award for the 2015-16 season.

Introduced more than 50 years ago, the D2 ADA is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the professionalism of Division II athletic directors.

Receiving a D2 ADA award is an honorable distinction, one earned by having a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher while attending a minimum of two years or four semesters of college and while serving as active members of an intercollegiate team during his/her last academic year. The accomplishments of these students is testament to the college or university’s commitment to nurture its athletes in all aspects of their college experience.

At CHC, two-time winner of the NCAA Division II President’s Award for Academic Excellence, the importance of academic success has always been a shared vision among the athletic department staff and each of the coaches, who make sure that scoring goals on the field is just as important as achieving goals made off of it. This commitment is evident in the high four-year graduation rate among athletes as well as the GPAs maintained by the individuals and throughout their teams.

“A big, big focus of mine has been off the field, academic success,” said Mike Pearson, head sprint football coach, when he first joined the staff in 2014. “We really want our students to graduate in four years and understand that being a student-athlete is secondary. That’s really where you measure the success of your team is in graduation rate.”

— Marilee Gallagher ’14