Bayfieldgopher
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Fall Semester Produces Wins in the Classroom
Head football coach Jerry Kill is fond of saying: "You have to win on the inside before you can win on the outside." It's a statement about the kind of discipline it takes to be successful, and speaks to both the internal battles we face personally to improve ourselves as well as those we work on collectively to help an organization move forward.
Gopher Athletics scored a big win with the recent announcement of our student-athletes' fall semester grades. It was an internal win, so it wasn't televised on the Big Ten Network or recounted in many newspaper columns. But it was indicative of the kind of program we continue to build here at the University of Minnesota.
I'm proud to report that 23 of our 25 programs, including our football team, earned a combined GPA of 3.00 or above for the term. For all student-athletes, the 2011 fall term GPA was 3.21, which is higher than the undergraduate fall term GPA for the general student body of 3.13. The numbers for cumulative GPAs at the end of the fall semester tell a similar story, with student-athletes posting an average of 3.20 and the general undergraduate student body averaging 3.15. This is the highest cumulative student-athlete GPA in at least the last 10 years.
The good results in the classroom by our student-athletes are due in part to the great support of Lynn Holleran, the Director of our McNamara Academic Center, her staff and others in the athletic department, especially our coaches. But the majority of the credit for the strong academic performance goes to the student-athletes, who are able to balance rigorous competition schedules and active social lives with the demands of being a full-time student at a world-class university.
Often we only focus on the athlete portion of the student-athlete equation. But sometimes it's worth taking a look at what's being accomplished away from the field of competition. I am proud of the efforts of our 750 student athletes and their accomplishments in the classroom. Truly impressive!
Go Gophers!
Joel Maturi
Director of Athletics
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Head football coach Jerry Kill is fond of saying: "You have to win on the inside before you can win on the outside." It's a statement about the kind of discipline it takes to be successful, and speaks to both the internal battles we face personally to improve ourselves as well as those we work on collectively to help an organization move forward.
Gopher Athletics scored a big win with the recent announcement of our student-athletes' fall semester grades. It was an internal win, so it wasn't televised on the Big Ten Network or recounted in many newspaper columns. But it was indicative of the kind of program we continue to build here at the University of Minnesota.
I'm proud to report that 23 of our 25 programs, including our football team, earned a combined GPA of 3.00 or above for the term. For all student-athletes, the 2011 fall term GPA was 3.21, which is higher than the undergraduate fall term GPA for the general student body of 3.13. The numbers for cumulative GPAs at the end of the fall semester tell a similar story, with student-athletes posting an average of 3.20 and the general undergraduate student body averaging 3.15. This is the highest cumulative student-athlete GPA in at least the last 10 years.
The good results in the classroom by our student-athletes are due in part to the great support of Lynn Holleran, the Director of our McNamara Academic Center, her staff and others in the athletic department, especially our coaches. But the majority of the credit for the strong academic performance goes to the student-athletes, who are able to balance rigorous competition schedules and active social lives with the demands of being a full-time student at a world-class university.
Often we only focus on the athlete portion of the student-athlete equation. But sometimes it's worth taking a look at what's being accomplished away from the field of competition. I am proud of the efforts of our 750 student athletes and their accomplishments in the classroom. Truly impressive!
Go Gophers!
Joel Maturi
Director of Athletics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
