Athletes achieve success on and off the field

	Cooper MacDonnell, a sophomore on the men's lacrosse team, works on a Philosophy paper as he travels to Fairfield for a match-up with the Stags.

At 7 a.m. on a brisk autumn morning, while most Loyola students were still in a deep slumber, 10 freshmen men’s lacrosse players were beginning drills. But they weren’t running plays on Diane Geppi-Aikens field—it was their brains getting a workout in the Jenkins Hall Study.

It’s called the Breakfast Club—a mandatory four-morning-per-week study hall for men’s lacrosse players and any team member whose GPA is below 2.3. Implemented in 2003, the Breakfast Club is now an integral part of the lacrosse program. The coaching staff and  the director of academic affairs for varsity athletics are there to greet the student-athletes each morning, and surprisingly, it’s not a hard sell to get the students there at 7 a.m.; in fact, the coaches use it as a recruiting tool.

“During the recruiting process we talk about having not only lacrosse and strength coaches, but an academic coach (Colleen Campbell) as well,” says Charley Toomey, head coach for the men’s lacrosse team. “For our program to be successful, we need success in every facet–academically, in the weight room and on the field. We know it's successful because the proof is numbers-based. These freshmen go home after their first semester with GPAs they want to maintain come spring!”

The numbers are telling—the team’s average grade point average has increased each season since the Breakfast Club launched, and five players made the Dean’s List last fall. The players seem to appreciate the extra study time. 

“Honestly, getting up early wasn’t too bad.” says freshman goalie Jake Hagelin, who was recently named the ECAC Rookie of the Week after making 14 saves in goal during a win over Georgetown. “I knew it was only through December. I did most of my homework during the Breakfast Club.”

Loyola prepares student-athletes for academic success through its academic advising program, directed by Colleens Cambell. She is assisted  by Adriana Mason, Assistant Director and Jenn Porreca, Coordinator, with the help of a part-time learning specialist. Campbell, who initiated the academic advising program in 2002 with Mason, sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Academic Advisors (N4A) and is a trained presenter for workshops presented by N4A and the NCAA to educate schools with low academic ratings.

“We have a pulse on what is going on at other schools across the country and can keep the program fresh,” says Campbell, who attends every 7 a.m. Breakfast Club session.

The academic advising program, referred to as the Academic Enrichment Program, is specifically set up for all first-year student-athletes. They, along with any athlete whose GPA is below a 2.5, and all first-year transfer student-athletes are required to participate in eight hours of monitored study hall each week as well as attend a weekly meeting with an academic coordinator. The academic coordinators work in tandem with the student-athletes’ faculty advisors to ensure their success. Weekly reports that include attendance and academic progress are shared and also sent to coaches.

“Giving one hundred percent effort in the classroom and on the playing field is a top priority for our athletes,” says Joe Boylan, Director of Athletics. “Our academic coordinators, coaches and faculty collaborate every day to ensure that we are empowering our students to achieve academic and athletic success at Loyola.”

Each Academic Coordinator asks each student-athlete to create a composite calendar of all of his or her semester assignments and athletic events so they can review it together in their weekly meetings, discuss grades and schedule tutoring sessions if needed. Helping the students plan ahead to complete projects that are due while they are traveling helps the athletes stay on track with course work.

Travel schedules can create challenges to athletes’ academic routines, says Campbell, but her staff ensures that athletes are equipped to focus on course work during their trips. The academic department loans laptop computers and internet access cards to student-athletes for road trips, and academic coordinators often travel with teams to monitor study halls and proctor missed quizzes and exams.

The academic advising program is giving student-athletes a foundation for academic success throughout their College careers. Theresa Ferriana, a junior accounting major, maintains a 4.0 GPA while playing midfield for the women’s soccer team.

“It’s a challenge balancing your role as a student and an athlete,” says Ferriana. “I have found the key to maintaining a high G.P.A. has been time management. By making a schedule and managing your time, you can easily overcome the challenges and make time to focus on both of your roles.”

Loyola’s student-athlete graduation and academic success statistics illustrate the benefits of Campbell’s comprehensive program. Since the program’s inception, the College has been recognized nationally by the NCAA for its Academic Progress Rate (APR) score, a national academic rate that tracks the graduation rate of scholarship athletes. Of the 326 Division I schools in the United States, Loyola was ranked #2 behind Yale in the percentage of teams with perfect APR scores the last three years. Loyola’s Graduation Success Rate among athletes receiving athletics aid is ninety-one percent, significantly above the sixty percent national average for Division I schools and higher than the average Loyola undergraduate six-year graduation rate in 2006-07 which was eighty-three percent.

Twenty-five percent of Loyola’s 408 student-athletes made the Dean’s List with a 3.5 GPA or above in the fall of 2007, and more than half earned a GPA of 3.0 or better. Sixty-nine student-athletes will graduate this May with an average GPA of 3.0. By comparison, Loyola’s overall average GPA for undergraduate students last fall was a 3.1.

Loyola’s individual teams have also earned academic accolades. The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were honored by the NCAA in 2007 for “Top Academic Progress Rates"—Loyola was one of only three schools in the country at which both the mens’ and the women’s squads received recognition. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America regularly honors the Greyhound women’s soccer team as an NSACAA College Academic Team, for a team GPA above 3.0, and the cross country and track teams have also received recent national academic accolades as an USTFCOCA National All-Academic team for its team GPA above a 3.0.

“The national academic recognition is evidence that our student-athletes are students first,” says Boylan. “The student-athlete experience at Loyola is defined by success both on and off the field.”