Erin Schulte, a junior in the Department of Bioengineering and a swimmer on the George Mason Swim and Dive Team, won the Provost Scholar Athlete Award for the second time. Schulte swims freestyle events for the Mason women's team that finished sixth at the A-10 Championship this week.
The Provost Scholar Athlete Award, a tradition begun by former provost Peter Stearns and continued by current provost S. David Wu, recognizes student-athletes with a 3.75 GPA or higher who have completed at least three full-time academic terms.
Mason student-athletes tend to graduate in fewer semesters than non-student-athletes, said Sue Collins, senior associate athletic director, and Mason athletes also boast a slightly higher grade-point average than non-student-athletes, with a 3.10 GPA to 3.05, according to recent university statistics.
"Mason student-athletes are in a wide array of majors, including neuroscience, engineering, communication, English, history, the School of Business," Collins says. "You name [a school/college] and they're in it."