In a League of Her Own
DeCarol Davis is leading the way in academics and athletics, shining in each arena.
By Saira Moini
Top Female Student - Athlete
DeCAROL DAVIS
School: U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Year: Junior
Major: Electrical Engineering
Cumulative GPA: 3.95
Fall 2006 GPA: 4.0
Sport: Basketball
It seems paradoxical, but by being the ultimate team player, DeCarol Davis, a junior at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, is leading the way in academics, basketball, student government — and even in transforming the Academy itself.
On the court and in the classroom, aboard ship or out in the local community, this Coast Guard cadet shines in every arena.
“DeCarol amazes us all. She’s off the charts academically, a league apart, yet she’s unbelievably modest and fits in to every team environment here,” says women’s basketball coach Alex Simonka, a retired Coast Guard commander who recruited Davis to the Academy.
Davis, the 2007 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year, is a leader on USCG’s basketball and softball teams. She has been elected class president twice and helped establish the first recycling program on campus. Through her own initiative, she ensured that cadets studying leadership now also learn about the accomplishments and perspectives of Black women leaders in the Coast Guard.
“As a member of a group, I want to empower people, be their representative, make them great,” says the electrical engineering major.
The only Black woman in the junior class, Davis is ranked first among 237 classmates, with her GPA approaching 4.0. She has made the Dean’s List as well as the Commandant of Cadets’ List for Military Excellence, both top academic honors.
She was just named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team for women’s basketball.
