About the Awards
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education established the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Awards in 1992 to honor undergraduate students of color who excel both academically and athletically. Inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr.’s commitment to education, as well as his love for the game of tennis, we invite every college and university in the country to participate in this annual awards program by nominating their outstanding student-athletes. In addition to their athletic ability, Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars must exhibit academic excellence and community activism. To be included, students have to compete in an intercollegiate sport; have completed at least one academic year of course work; be enrolled for the fall term of ’07; maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2; and be active on their campuses and/or their communities. This year’s nominees feature student-athletes who are charging ahead with academics and athletics. Two of these scholar-athletes — the University of Illinois’ women’s tennis star Momei Qu and Hampton University’s football standout Marcus Dixon, were selected as Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars of the Year for best exemplifying the standards of scholarship, athleticism and humanitarianism. For the first time this year, we are also honoring two additional male and female finalists. Clemson University’s basketball player Cliff Hammonds; Ohio State University’s football receiver Brian Robiskie; George Washington University’s basketball star Sarah-Jo Lawrence; and University of Maryland, Baltimore’s soccer player Jessica Young share the honors.
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