New CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame (AAA HOF) plaques were recently unveiled in the NCAA Hall of Champions, a popular visitor and tourist interactive museum/exhibit area adjacent to the NCAA national offices in Indianapolis, IN.
Created in 1988, the Academic All-America Hall of Fame® recognizes Academic All-Americas who have achieved lifetime success in their professional careers and are committed to philanthropic causes in the communities where they reside.
Please see the thoughts of NCAA leaders who are AAA Hall of Fame members, and others, about this display and the AAA HOF program (below).
Twenty-three classes have been inducted into the AAAHOF (began in 1988). An elite and select group of 112 Academic All-Americas have been inducted into the Hall since its inception, with four to five deserving candidates enshrined annually.
The Class of 2011 will be inducted at the annual CoSIDA Convention in Marco Island, Florida in June, 2011.
Nominations are currently being solicited for the Class of 2011.
The idea and coordination for the Academic All-America® HOF plaques to be put on display at the NCAA Hall of Champions was the brainchild of Eric McDowell, Assistant Athletics Director/Sports Information at Union College (NY). McDowell also serves as the Chair of CoSIDA's College Division Management Advisory Committee.
McDowell shared his idea with the CoSIDA leadership and Board of Directors who approved of the plans and plaque funding, and McDowell worked with NCAA officials to make the display a reality in August 2010.
In 2005, McDowell also initiated the placement of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame plaque display at the NCAA Hall of Champions - a request approved by the Hall of Fame members and by the CoSIDA Board. The
CoSIDA Hall of Fame plaques have been on display since 2006.
What they are saying about the Academic All-America® Hall of Fame Program
"Of all the All-America honors, only one represents the elite class of our society, the Academic All-America® team. It's Hall of Fame honorees personify the Gold Standard for scholar-athletes, stars in the classroom as well as the athletic arena, who have gone on to create and contribute greatness in their post-University careers."
• Dick Enberg, long-time spokesman for the Academic All-America® and Academic All-America Hall of Fame programs.
(The CoSIDA Dick Enberg Award is presented annually to a person whose commitment to educational and academic values futhers the meaning and reach of the Academic All-America® program and student-athletes.)
"The ideal of the student- athlete is a reality lived each day by thousands of men and women who participate in NCAA athletic events. They devote as much time to the left side of the hyphen in "student-athlete" as the right side. CoSIDA has recognized these athletes for years by bestowing the Academic All America® moniker. To me, there is no higher honor for an athlete who participates in intercollegiate athletics. It is right and fitting for them to be included in the NCAA Hall of Champions."
• Pat Haden, current University of Southern California Director of Athletics inducted into the inaguaral AAAHOF class in 1988.
(A 1975 USC graduate, Haden starred as a Trojan and NFL quarterback; was an Academic All-America® honoree who studied at Oxford University in England as a Rhodes Scholarship recipient.)
"Focus, preparation, effort and persistence.
These are the traits shown by athletes who excel in their sport. The CoSida Academic All-America® program recognizes individuals who have applied those same traits to their academic endeavors with exceptional success. It's a tremendous honor for the Academic All-America Hall of Fame members to be recognized in the NCAA Hall of Champions. Its inclusion certainly illuminates one of the NCAA's core values -- a commitment to the pursuit of excellence in both academics and athletics."
• Amy P. Perko, Executive Director, Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and a 2008 AAA HOF inductee
(A former Wake Forest basketball standout, she was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate and three-time Academic All-America® honoree under maiden name of Amy Privette.)
"This is a great step for college athletics to have the Academic All-America Hall of Fame included in the NCAA Hall of Champions. It continues to prove to student-athletes across the country the importance of academics, and how academic success goes hand-in-hand with athletic success. Athletes need to be champions in the classroom too, and should take a great deal of pride in their academic accomplishments. With the inclusion of this Hall of Fame into the NCAA Hall of Champions, a powerful message is being sent to student-athletes today."
• Oliver Luck, new Director of Athletics at the West Virginia and a 2000 AAA Hof inductee
(A 1982 WVU Phi Beta Kappa graduate, Mountaineer and NFL quarterback, Luck was a two-time Academic All-America® selection.)
“The CoSIDA organization and the NCAA have collaborated on many efforts and so displaying the CoSIDA highest honors in the NCAA Hall of Champions is a true testament of both organizations’ shared objectives and the primary value that we place on higher education and athletics. Our associations have a lot in common. So having the CoSIDA Academic All-American awards on our walls, along with so many other of the highest honors earned in college athletics, is fitting. The NCAA is proud and the NCAA Hall of Champions is honored to house and display the awards of excellence on behalf of CoSIDA.”
• Damon Schoening, NCAA Director of Brand Strategies and Events
“The CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame has been honoring outstanding former student-athletes who have gone on to greatness in their professional lives and in their community service activities. All of the inductees have all been champions and the NCAA Hall of Champions is an appropriate venue to publicly recognize them.”
• Dick Lipe, Chair of CoSIDA's Academic All-America® Committee
Academic All-America® Award Plaque Facts
• NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis, IN (at the NCAA headquarters) put them on permanent display in August.
• Plaques were officially unveiled at the Hall of Fame Gala during the 2010 CoSIDA Convention, held in San Francisco.
• The four plaques feature a description of the program, history, and names and affiliations of each inductee.
• They joined the CoSIDA Hall of Fame plaques in the NCAA Hall of Champions, which were installed in 2006 after their unveiling in Nashville at the 2006 CoSIDA Convention.
• The request for the AAAHOF was made by Eric McDowell in 2009, after renovations of the NCAA Hall of Champions following a fire; this was approved by Hall officials and the CoSIDA Board.