National Collegiate Athletic Association |
The NCAA News - News & FeaturesJuly 22, 1996Stroock new president of academic advisors associationFred Stroock, assistant athletics director at the University of Southern California, was elevated to the presidency of the National Association for Academic Advisors for Athletics (N4A) at that group's 21st annual conference recently in Washington, D.C.In his closing comments to the N4A membership, Stroock stressed the need for athletics academic advisors to meet the challenges brought on by the increasing numbers of NCAA rules and by the daily pressures placed on them by coaches, administrators and the media. He identified the theme of the 1997 conference as "Taking on the Challenge." Outstanding achievement by academic advisors was recognized at the conference, which was conducted June 11-15. The Lan Hewlett Award for outstanding performance as an academic advisor was presented to Steve Milburn, director of athletics academic counseling at the University of Louisville. The Distinguished Service Award went to Sandy Meyer of Pennsylvania State University for her outstanding contributions to N4A as convention program coordinator. Also, 10 student-athletes were recognized for achieving their goals through perseverance, determination and self-discipline. Those athletes were Jennifer Kratson, La Salle University; Thanh Nguyen, University of Maine; Lorilyn Christie Mendoza, University of Oregon; Sanford Lewis Mouton, Hardin-Simmons University; Eric Scammons, Boston College; Michael Conrad Lhotsky, Campbell University; Zatiti Kugaf Moody, University of Pittsburgh; Melinda Sergent, University of Texas at El Paso; Carlos McCauley, Saint Louis University; and Brent Shiver, Northwestern University. The keynote speaker was John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, who stressed the importance of health to the more than 300 academic advisors in attendance. He encouraged academic advisors to reduce stress, eat in a healthy manner and avoid cigarette smoking. N4A members also heard from Carolyn Cornelison, director of special programs for The BAACHUS & GAMMA Peer Education Network; Charles S. Farrell, national director of the Rainbow Commission for Fairness in Athletics; Joan Olsson, founder and director of Cultural Bridges, a cultural diversity program; and Kristine Clark, a nationally recognized sports nutritionist. The 1997 annual conference will be June 21-25 in Phoenix. Ron Brown, assistant to the provost at Pittsburgh, was selected as N4A president-elect.
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