LA MIRADA, Calif. — Biola University has been recognized by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) with the Champions of Character Five Star Award, receiving the fourth-highest point total in the association with 91 points on the 2010-11 NAIA Championship of Character Scorecard.
The NAIA recognized 220 college and universities and 23 conferences with the Five Star Award, given to members who score 60 or more points on the scorecard with conferences making the list with 60% of its membership making the grade.
“It is an honor to compete in a national association that promotes academic excellence and community involvement in addition to athletic success,” said Assistant Athletic Director and Biola's Champions of Character coordinator Bethany Miller. “We are thankful for the active involvement of our coaches and athletes at Biola in this program as they strive to glorify God with their performances both on and off the playing field.”
Biola's spot in the top five complimented its other national recognition received recently. Biola led the NAIA with 18 of its teams earning NAIA Scholar Team honors by posting a team GPA of 3.0 or higher and also finished 11th in the NAIA/Learfield Director's Cup standings which measures overall athletic success by a department.
Over 80% of NAIA member institutions and all member conferences were named to the Five Star list. Colleges and universities landing in the top five spots include Cornerstone (Mich.) with 103 points, Montana Tech of the University of Montana with 97 points, Shawnee State (Ohio) with 94 points, and Biola (Calif.) and Xavier (La.) each with 91 points.
Biola had the highest total in the Golden State Athletic Conference which saw nine of its 10 member schools make the cut. Vanguard had the second-highest scorecard total with Vanguard scoring 77 points. Fresno Pacific was next with 72 points followed by Westmont with 70 points, The Master's and Hope International with 69 points, and Concordia, Point Loma Nazarene and San Diego Christian each with 62 points.
The Scorecard was crafted to convert the NAIA's vision and strategy into measurable goals and to monitor progress towards advancing character-driven intercollegiate athletics. The initiative supports performance-driven athletics while defining expectations and standards that drive successful teams and athletics departments.
Institutions were measured based on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earned points in each of the following categories: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by obtaining zero ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.
Five Star Award recipients will be recognized on the NAIA Champions of Character website, and receive a special web banner and certificate noting the honor. Presidents, athletics directors and conference commissioners at award winning colleges, universities or conferences also will be recognized at the 71st Annual NAIA National Convention in Long Beach in April.
The Scorecard process is based on the NAIA's flagship program Champions of Character, which emphasizes the five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. To learn more about the NAIA Champions of CharacterScorecard and Five Star Award visit www.ChampionsofCharacter.org.
