WNE athletes continue to excel in the classroom

July 30, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — In a time in which the national news is riddled with scandals involving schools losing sight of the true spirit of college athletics, the Western New England University (WNE) athletics department continues to propel itself in a positive direction.

With all three sports seasons in the books, the Golden Bears are celebrating excellence exhibited both on and off the field. In addition to four conference championships and the top ranking of any Commonwealth Coast Conference school in the Larfield Sports Director's Cup standings, WNE athletes combined for an impressive 3.13 grade point average (GPA) for the 2011-12 school year.

"To us, this is not a surprise. These are the results we see year after year. Our core belief is to give student athletes the best experience possible," Mike Theulen, WNE athletic director and men's basketball coach, told Reminder Publications. "Because of that we support our athletes wholeheartedly in their academic endeavors. "

Impressively, all nine of the WNE women's sports programs earned GPAs of 3.0 or higher, led by the volleyball squad, which led the entire athletic department with a 3.52 GPA. Tennis was the highest-scoring men's sport with a 3.31 GPA.

Fourteen Golden Bears finished the spring semester with a perfect 4.0 GPA and 59 percent of all student athletes registered a 3.0 or higher.

"Historically, our student athletes have exceeded standards," Theulen said. "Obviously we are happy, but we are always looking to improve. We would like to see that number at 100 percent."

Theulen said that he sees the student-athletes' continued success in the classroom as a reflection of the department's focus on academic support.

"We have mandatory study halls for all freshmen and for students at risk, which are students with a GPa of 2.5 or lower," Theulen said. "One of the things these study halls do is act as an orientation on what it means to be a Golden Bear, to support students in developing life skills and mentor them."

Theulen added that the quality of the students that are recruited to play at WNE is also a major contributor as many of them are already equipped to continue their success in college.

"The vast majority of our top recruits are merit scholar winners," he said.

The university's prolonged expansion of programs and accreditation has played a major role in recruiting such student athletes to the small private institution.

"Our business school is in the top 5 percent in the nation; we have a terrific engineering department and several of our programs in arts and sciences are highly regarded," he said.

As educational costs continue to rise, having an emphasis on students who already have academic acheivements and a focus going into college has been a major boost for WNE's programs.

"The cost of education is going up and it is something that small private colleges and universities are worried about. The thing about going to a small private [college] is you need to know what you want to do or at least have a pretty good idea. That helps us formulate a plan on who to recruit and gives us an idea of which athletes we should pursue," he said. "When you come to this institution, you must see the tuition as an investment in your future. It is an expense, but it is also an investment and while here, students can create relationships with professors, coaches and mentors that will help them succeed in the world when they graduate."

Those relationships formed with coaches also contribute to student success, Theulen pointed out.

"It bears noting that the coaches are extremely invested in the success of our student athletes," he said. "The compassion and interest that the coaches have for their athletes is part of the reason why we maintain a 90 percent retention rate."

The athletics department has also maintained the same commitment to the community as the rest of the university, which has put an emphasis on being good responsible neighbors within the city.

"One hundred percent of student athletes are involved in community service. We even have a coordinator of community service within our department," Theulen said. "Every team has a public service project."

Among the programs offered through the athletic department is a learn-to-swim program in conjunction with Glickman Elementary School, basketball clinics with the Dunbar Community Center and the football team's continued support of Habitat for Humanity.

The programs involving kids have a very simple and powerful message that is passed on from the athletes to the students: You can do it.

"The message we want to send to the children of the community is that every kid can do what our student athletes are doing if you are willing to work hard for it inside and outside of the classroom," he said. "It's a message that really reaches these kids when it's coming from our athletes as opposed to someone older."

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