11 Nov HU is a Champion of Character School

For the sixth consecutive year, Huntington University’s athletic program has been named a recipient of the Champions of Character Five Star Award. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced the 2013-2014 awards in October.

The award uses a point system and consider a variety of factors: character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion, plus the five Champions of Character core values: integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership. The Foresters also earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and minimal ejections during competition.

To receive this award, institutions must score at least 60 out of 100 possible points. HU earned 76 of the possible 100 points to rank among 60 schools named to the silver level (66th overall).

Eight of the ten schools in the Crossroads League received Champions of Character awards, putting Crossroads among 17 conferences to be recognized as a Champion of Character Conference.

St. Francis, a Catholic university in Fort Wayne, Ind., was the only Crossroads school among the 12 Gold Medallion winners (scoring 90 or above). HU, Bethel, Goshen, Spring Arbor, and Taylor received the Silver Medallion. Two other Crossroads schools, Grace and Indiana Wesleyan, qualified for the Bronze Medallion. Only Mt. Vernon Nazarene and Marian University didn’t make the list.

Huntington University competes in 16 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 38 NAIA All-America honors and 222 All-America Scholar Athlete honors.