JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman is set to honor a record number of student athletes at its annual Eagle Scholars awards ceremony Thursday evening. 

For a sixth straight year, the Carson-Newman Eagle Scholars program saw a record number of Carson-Newman student athletes named to the school's athletic department honor roll.  The  university will welcome a whopping 213 student-athletes into its Eagle Scholars Program during the annual awards ceremony Thursday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 p.m. in Holt Fieldhouse. 

Last year, the program set a record with 177 honorees. This year's 213-member class is an increase of 20.3 percent.  

The Eagle Scholars Program recognizes academic achievements among Carson-Newman student-athletes. To become an Eagle Scholar, student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.25 or higher. Eagle Scholars receive a patch to wear on their uniforms during regular season competition.  This year also marks the first year that the program also includes the introduction of the Gold Scholars. These honorees will receive a golden patch to wear on their uniforms for maintaining a GPA higher than 3.75. There are 61 such gold scholars in this year's program. 

Carson-Newman is the only school in the South Atlantic Conference to offer such a program.

It was the teamwork of Gloria Walker and Amy Humphrey, members of the University's Student Success Center that helped to bring the program together in 2013.

"I'm excited about our Sixth Annual Eagle Scholars Ceremony as we highlight the academic accomplishments of our student-athletes," Walker said. "This is a true testament to the commitment and dedication of our student-athletes, our coaches and our faculty and staff as they achieve academic excellence."

2013 - 72

2014 - 93

2015 - 128

2016 - 160

2017 - 177

2018 - 213

Membership in the program has increased 195 percent from its inaugural year to now. 

Thursday's proceedings will be streamed live at cneagles.com/live.