Jim Seavey to Receive CoSIDA’s 2009 Lester Jordan Award
By Jim Fenton
Brockton (Mass.) Enterprise
For Jim Seavey, working on the CoSIDA Academic All-America committee the past 18 years has been “a labor of love.’’
“To be able to tell the stories of the student-athletes who become Academic All-Americas is the most important thing that we do in this profession,’’ said Seavey, the director of sports information and compliance at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
“I really don’t think there is anything more important for CoSIDA and SIDs to do than to than honor what a student does not only on the field but in the classroom. I’ve had 17 Academic All-Americas at the schools I’ve worked, and to see what it means to the student-athletes is very rewarding.’’
Seavey, a Bridgewater, Mass., resident, is being honored for his work and will receive the annual Lester Jordan Award which is presented for “exemplary service to the Academic All-America program and promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.’’
Jordan, who was the SID at Southern Methodist University, founded the Academic All-America program in 1952 and the award has been given out annually since 1994.
Seavey, the fourth Division 3 SID to be honored, is in his 21st year in the profession and also serves as the director of media relations for the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference.
He began on the Academic All-America committee in 1991 while working at Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. He became the program’s vice chairman last year after being the national coordinator for 13 years.
“I’m getting this award because of Dick Lipe, period,’’ said Seavey of the longtime sports information director at Bentley University. “He’s the one who got me involved on the committee and has been gracious in putting me in a leadership role and putting me in the program.
“I get a great kick out of doing this and every day being part of it. To be on a list of previous award winners like Dick and a lot of my friends and colleagues it means a lot.’’
Seavey, who is currently serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors for CoSIDA as a college division representative, said it means a lot to him to promote the classroom accomplishment of athletes.
“Working at the college level, you see kids who are high profile athletes like a Tim Tebow,’’ said Seavey. “You think of Tim Tebow as a great quarterback at Florida and the Heisman Trophy winner. But I’m more impressed that he is the Academic All-America of the Year.
“When I was at Stonehill College, I saw the impact of basketball player Julie Stockwell, who was the school’s first female Academic All-America. I was at Merrimack when softball pitcher Kim Page was 22-1 and won a national title, but she was a three-time Academic All-America.
“Being able to tell the stories of those kids is more important than anything they did on the field of play, no matter their athletic accomplishments.
“Over the years, I’ve had kids more excited about making the Academic All-America team than being an All-America athlete or a player of the year or an all-conference selection. It really solidifies what they do.’’
Seavey, a 1986 graduate of Marquette University, began his career at Loras College in Dubuque Iowa before spending one year at Nichols College, five years at Merrimack, three years at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, nine years at Stonehill and one year at Suffolk University. He began at Mass. Maritime Academy last year.