Athletes’ excellence extends off the field

Two outstanding athletes spoke at the reception: Marlies Phillion, left, a human kinetics student, who had a 9.5 GPA, won a silver medal in 2004 as a member of the Gee-Gees woman’s hockey team; Phillippe Rousseau, also a human kinetics student, and a member of the cross-country team, holds an 8.5 GPA.

On January 13, 2005, the University of Ottawa honoured 96 student-athletes, who maintained a grade point average (GPA) of 8.0 or better during the 2003-2004 academic year while competing at Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) level or in the University’s competitive clubs. Robert Major, vice-president academic, and provost presented each student with an award.

The theme of the reception was “Beyond Expectations” highlighting the University’s 2003-2004 successes both on the playing field and in the classroom. Five CIS teams secured berths to their national championships, the most in the University’s history, with two of the five teams earning silver medals (women’s ice hockey and women’s soccer).

Remarkably, with the tremendous success on the athletic playing field the average GPA for all Gee-Gees student-athletes increased by 0.5, to a “B” grade.

“We take great pride in the many successes of our competitive teams on the field, ice, and on the court, but what is most impressive than any record or championship title is the quality and well-roundedness, including the overall academic achievement, of our student-athletes,” said Sports Services director, Luc Gelineau.