Student-Athlete Success Leads the Way

Since his arrival on campus in September, our president has offered a simple yet poignant vision for our student-athletes—a ring on one hand and a diploma in the other.

I think what Dr. Davies is driving at is the comprehensive excellence that we challenge not only our student-athletes, but our coaches and staff to strive for on a daily basis.

Based on the developments in the past month, I'd say our team is rising to meet that challenge.

Fire Up Chat Archive

• Feb. 7, 2019: Student-Athlete Success Leads the Way
• Dec. 13, 2018: Growth and Progress
• Oct. 23, 2018: A Game-Changer
• Sept. 10, 2018: Starting Another Exciting Year for CMU Athletics
• Aug. 1, 2018: Generous CMU fans show student-athlete support
• May 23, 2018: Commitment in classroom leads to lifelong success
• April 16, 2018: Spring success continues trend of exceeding expectations
• March 13, 2018: Champions! Special group of student-athletes launches March
• Feb. 19, 2018: Building up CMU through facilities, new diversity program
• Jan. 15, 2018: Second semester starts with victories, good news
• Dec. 11, 2017: Champions Alumni Center end-zone project taking shape
• Nov. 6, 2017: Your invitation to join our "all-in" mentality
• Oct. 10, 2017: Together, we help CMU student-athletes reach their potential
• Sept. 8, 2017: Matching your passion for CMU as we transition to be the best

Beginning in the classroom, this past semester Chippewa student-athletes proved once again why they are the class of the MAC in academic achievement.
We had six student-athletes named as MAC Distinguished Scholar Athletes, an honor voted upon by the Faculty Athletics Representative of each of the 12 member institutions: Lily Amadio and Georgina Minta (Field Hockey), Morgan Britain (soccer), Meg Kern (volleyball) and Luke Idoni and Mitch Stanizek (football).

This outstanding group highlighted another fine semester of success which included:

CMU student-athletes posting a 3.139 GPA, their 40^th consecutive semester with a GPA of 3.0 or higher
30 Chippewa student-athletes named to the President's List by posting a 4.0 and another 172 student-athletes earning a spot on the Dean's List by finishing with at least a 3.5
Currently, 158 of our student-athletes maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better

As we move from the classroom to the basketball court, I'd like to highlight two women (both of whom already own one ring) for their historic accomplishments this past month.

Presley Hudson and Reyna Frost of our defending MAC Champion women's basketball team have spent their time in Mount Pleasant setting a standard of excellence that will not soon be forgotten.

In the month of January, Reyna eclipsed a mark that has stood for over 30 years by securing her 1,231^st rebound and the top spot on the MAC's all-time career rebounding list. Not to be outdone, in CMU's 71-61 win over Eastern Michigan, Presley scored her 2,007^th point and passed former Chippewa great Crystal Bradford as the all-time leading scorer in CMU women's basketball history.

My sincerest congratulations to Presley and Reyna on these tremendous accomplishments. They were well-earned by two women who exemplify what it means to be a CMU student-athlete.

Finally, big things continue to happen around our football program under the leadership of Jim McElwain. Coach Mac and his newly completed staff of talented coaches and teachers are moving aggressively toward reawakening the proud tradition that is Central Michigan football.

Our players have been challenged this offseason to elevate their game as both students and as athletes and to see how they've responded has me so excited for the fall.

Also, the Chippewa Champions Alumni Center project continues to move along swiftly and we are grateful to so many of you who have supported and continue to support this game-changing project.

Stay warm and stay fired up!

Michael Alford Signature

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