JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn - A whopping 304 Carson-Newman student-athletes have been lauded with status as Eagle Scholars, the athletic department announced Monday.
The grouping will be formally recognized during the 11th annual Eagle Scholars Ceremony, which will take place Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. inside Holt Fieldhouse. The proceedings will be streamed on the Eagle Sports Network at cneagles.com/live.
Roughly 60 percent of Carson-Newman's student-athlete population will be lauded during the ceremony.
Carson-Newman's overall Eagle Scholars count has stayed remarkably consistent over the last three years. For the first time in the 11-year history of the program, an overall record-number of honorees won't be celebrated. However, this year's class will be the highest percentage of the overall student-athlete body to be recognized.
C-N's overall number of Eagle Scholars is down by a whopping two, from 306 to 304.
A total 305 where recognized in 2021, a growth of 25.5 percent from the previous year's record-class of 243. It marks a stark contrast since the program began in 2013 with 72 being recognized.
The Director's Cup will also be presented during the Eagle Scholars Ceremony.
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 fourth 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 84 such gold scholars (exactly the same amount as last year's) in this year's program and 47 Platinum Scholars, which recognizes students with perfect 4.0s.
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, then members of the University's Student Success Center that helped to bring the program together in 2013.
2013 - 72
2014 - 93
2015 - 128
2016 - 160
2017 - 177
2018 - 213
2019 - 220
2020 - 243
2021 - 305
2022 - 306
2023 - 304