University of Minnesota Athletics
NATIONAL STUDENT-ATHLETE DAY ON THURSDAY
4/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Golden Gopher student-athletes juggle many facets of their lives with successful outcomes. In addition to spending 20 hours a week in training, student-athletes also put in a minimum of 12 hours in the classroom each week. First-year student-athletes are required to attend a six-hour Evening Study Program as well.
Another aspect of the collegiate experience for Minnesota student-athletes is involvement in community service. Each team gives back to the community in their own way. Examples of community service over the past year are the football team visiting the Minneapolis Children's Hospital or the women's basketball team holding a clinic for the students at Bethume-Cookman Elementary School.
Student-athletes at Minnesota are not unlike the typical college students around the country in that they also deal with the emotional and financial challenges that the college experience presents. College is a balancing act for anyone, with students establishing new relationships, balancing academics and social priorities, adjusting to independence and freedoms of campus life and making important career and life decisions. But the student-athlete becomes an expert at balance, adding in the pressures of injuries, winning or losing seasons, and media and peer scrutiny to the mix.
Many student-athletes deal with financial aid issues as well. Contrary to popular belief, less than 35 percent of Minnesota's student-athletes are receiving a full scholarship.
Of course, the student-athlete is expected to be a student first. The student-athletes from the 22 Golden Gophers' intercollegiate sports have excelled in maintaining high academic standards. A total of 242 student-athletes own a cumulative grade-point-average of 3.0 or higher. In the 1999 fall semester, 246 student- athletes posted semester grade points better than 3.0. In the 1999-2000 sporting season, eight student-athletes are competing who have already earned an undergraduate degree and are working on post-graduate degrees. Nine student-athletes have achieved perfection in the classroom and carry 4.0 GPAs. The Women's Athletics Department carried a 3.08 GPA in the fall semester, the 24th consecutive academic term that the Department has obtained a cumulative GPA over 3.0. The Men's Athletics Department owned a 2.81 GPA in the fall of 1999.
And finally the Golden Gopher student-athletes excel in their fields of competition. The women's hockey team won the first national championship in the history of the Minnesota Women's Athletics Department while the wrestling team battled to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
