OLLU has been recognized as a Champions of Charactive Silver Level Five-Star Institution by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The prestigious recognition signifies OLLU’s commitment to character-driven athletics and its alignment with the NAIA Core Values
Haley Holzem, Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance / Women’s Athletics Administrator and Manager of the NAIA Champions of Character program for OLLU, said, “We are proud to have our university among the five-star institutions this year. Each program at OLLU strives for excellence and always represents the NAIA Core Values. We have an amazing group of student-athletes. We cannot wait to see the servant leadership initiatives they take on this upcoming school year as we partner with multiple local non-profits and better our community.”
The NAIA uses a Champions of Character scorecard to see how well institutions fulfill character-driven athletics. To make the cut, a school must earn 60 points out of a possible 100. A school picks up points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Points are also earned based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the academic year.
The five core values of the Champions of Character initiative are integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership to help student-athletes, coaches and parents do the right thing on and off the field. Two hundred and nine member institutions were named Five-Star Award winners.
In addition, the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) was named a Champions of Character Five-Star Conference based on the results of its ten member institutions. To be recognized, a conference must have established a Champions of Character conference committee and conduct an in-competition oversight committee consisting of at least three members. In addition, at least half of the league’s schools must receive the Champions of Character Five-Star Institution award.
All 14 RRAC members earned this distinction: Huston-Tillotson University – Gold, Jarvis Christian University – Silver, Louisiana Christian University – Gold, LSU-Alexandria – Gold, LSU-Shreveport – Silver, North American University – Gold, Paul Quinn College – Silver, Texas A&M University-San Antonio – Gold, Texas A&M University – Texarkana – Silver, Texas College – Bronze, University of Houston-Victoria – Gold, University of the Southwest – Silver, Xavier University of Louisiana – Silver.