Division II names 2023 Award of Excellence finalists

Twenty-two schools have been named finalists for the 2023 Division II Award of Excellence, an accolade recognizing initiatives in the past year that exemplify the Division II philosophy, community engagement and student-athlete leadership. Three finalists were picked as at-large honorees for submitting a strong nomination that was not chosen as the finalist in their conference.

Division II honors its members each year for conducting events that promote student-athletes giving back and serving as leaders within their communities or on their campuses. A committee of athletics administrators determined this year's finalists, and the national Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee selected the top three finalists, who will be announced at the Division II business session Jan. 14 at the 2023 NCAA Convention in San Antonio.

Each finalist will receive $500. In addition, the winner will receive $2,500, the first runner-up will receive $1,250 and the second runner-up will receive $1,000. All prize money is intended to be used for future SAAC initiatives or community engagement events.

The following are the 2023 finalists, alphabetized by conference:

School: Caldwell University 

Conference: Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference

Project: The Jared Box Project. To celebrate Division II Day, Caldwell's SAAC, along with Student-Athlete Mentors, Caldwell University Breaks Stigma and athletic staff members, came together to organize the Jared Box Project. They organized a gift basket auction and raised $1,613, which they used to assemble small boxes for children in the hospital. Each box was filled with items like games, crayons, coloring books and a personalized note from a student-athlete. 

School: Roberts Wesleyan University

Conference: East Coast Conference

Project: Rise Against Hunger. Partnering with Rise Against Hunger, an international humanitarian organization, Roberts Wesleyan student-athletes held their inaugural meal-packing event to help address both local and global hunger needs. Through a Redhawks fundraising event, they were able to raise $5,000 for this initiative, which gave them the opportunity to pack and box 13,176 single-meal packets. These meals were received by ORPHANetwork, Rise Against Hunger's in-country partner, and distributed in Nicaragua. 

School: Southern Arkansas University

Conference: Great American Conference

Project: Muleriders for Micah. Southern Arkansas' SAAC, in conjunction with Muleriders in Magnolia (a student-athlete community engagement branch of the school athletic department), organized and implemented Muleriders for Micah. This initiative was created to support Micah Gunnels, whose mother, Ashley, is a student at Southern Arkansas. Micah was diagnosed with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and has undergone numerous tests, rounds of chemotherapy, doctor visits and hospital stays. With the help of local businesses, the Muleriders student-athletes were able to raise $3,000 to send Micah and his family to the Memphis Zoo, making his wish come true. 

School: Wayne State University (Michigan)

Conference: Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Project: Hashtag Lunchbag. Wayne State student-athletes worked together to make brown bag lunches to be delivered to homeless shelters in Detroit. Each lunch was packed into a brown paper bag with a custom note of encouragement written by student-athletes. Overall, five Detroit shelters received 100 bag lunches each to distribute. 

School: Rockhurst University

Conference: Great Lakes Valley Conference

Project: Troost Elementary. Rockhurst men's basketball has a long-standing relationship with Troost Elementary, a local school. In addition to many visits to the elementary school, Rockhurst held a special men's basketball game experience for the children of Troost. Players hosted a mini clinic and a meet and greet, with giveaways to each student. The students then cheered on their favorite players. 

School: Walsh University

Conference: Great Midwest Athletic Conference

Project: Athletes With Action. In partnership with Fierce Females, a program of Walsh women athletes who worked to inspire young girls to set high expectations and to encourage and lift others up with them on their way to success, Walsh's SAAC created Athletes With Action, which supports and positively impacts youth in the community through interaction with collegiate athletes. Through various weekly activities, 175 Walsh student-athletes from 14 teams spent 300 hours with the students of Frazer Elementary School. 

School: Western Oregon University 

Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference

Project: Abby's House. At Western Oregon, Abby's House is the campus center for equity and gender justice. In April, the school's SAAC partnered with Abby's House to promote on-campus resources during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Using their social media platforms to share and promote events hosted by Abby's House during April, SAAC encouraged student-athletes to get involved. 

School: Lubbock Christian University 

Conference: Lone Star Conference

Project: Olivia Needs a Ride. A local 8-year-old, Olivia Anders, was diagnosed with periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy. Olivia Needs a Ride is a nonprofit created to raise funds to buy Olivia an indoor power wheelchair, an outdoor power wheelchair and a wheelchair-accessible van. Lubbock Christian's SAAC organized a special night of women's basketball to raise money and treat Olivia as an honorary Lady Chap. During the game, Olivia Needs a Ride raised $12,410 via donations and merchandise sales. These donations were used to help purchase a wheelchair-accessible van to transport Olivia and her wheelchairs.

School: Missouri Western State University 

Conference: Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association 

Project: Play Unified Day. Partnering with the Special Olympics, the Missouri Western State men and women's basketball programs held their second annual Play Unified Day. During this full-day event, they worked together to expand athletic opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities. This event served a wide range of individuals ages 4 to 55 and fostered a spirit of inclusion within the athletic teams and Special Olympics community. 

School: Fairmont State University

Conference: Mountain East Conference

Project: Corridor Chapter of the Autism Society. Fairmont State men's and women's swimming teams connected with the Corridor Chapter of the Autism Society. This is a local nonprofit with the mission of providing resources, programs and support for individuals and their families affected by autism spectrum disorder. The annual swimming challenge initiative began to empower children with autism to be comfortable around the water and work on their swimming skills with individualized attention. The Fairmont State student-athletes gave lessons to members of the chapter. This annual partnership provides an outlet for social acceptance and therapy to help enrich their quality of life.

School: University of New Haven

Conference: Northeast-10 Conference 

Project: Anthony's Wish Reveal. New Haven's SAAC launched a virtual fundraising campaign across its social media platforms to raise money for Make-A-Wish. The success of the fundraiser allowed New Haven the opportunity to grant the wish of Anthony, a 14-year-old boy with a nervous system disorder. Anthony's wish began with an unforgettable day joining the Charger football team, included a special message of support from former New York Giant and two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Snee and ended with the celebration of New Haven SAAC making his wish for a pool come true. 

School: Minnesota State University Moorhead

Conference: Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference

Project: Joe's Heroes. Joe Keller was a superfan, fellow intern and friend of Minnesota State Moorhead athletics. A former Make-A-Wish recipient himself, he passionately helped the school SAAC with past Make-A-Wish efforts. After Joe's passing, Joe's Heroes was formed from a group of student-athletes who wanted to honor their late friend and pay Joe's gift forward. Through successful social media campaigns, collaboration with Papa John's and indoor tailgate events at basketball games, SAAC raised $4,385 for the Fargo Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

School: Hawaii Pacific University

Conference: Pacific West Conference 

Project: The Shark Way. Hawaii Pacific's men's basketball team participated in various community engagement initiatives over the course of the school year. These included engaging in activities like Zumba and relay races with local elementary children, teaching students about proper helmet safety, a basketball clinic, reading with the children, conducting healthy living talks with students in grades 3 through 6 and working to restore He'eia fishpond, an 800-year-old cultural relic. 

School: Georgia College 

Conference: Peach Belt Conference 

Project: Tailgate Tour. To bring back a sense of community to Georgia College's campus, Bobcat athletics hosted a season-long social event called the Tailgate Tour. The Tailgate Tour focused on a single home event per sport for a campus community social event, complete with grilling food, music, games and fun — right next to the event venue. This initiative also was used to recognize and celebrate staff from Student Health Services, Counseling Services and the custodial staff. 

School: Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

Conference: Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 

Project: Raiders LEAD. Shippensburg's Raiders Leadership, Emergence and Development  program is a student-athlete-focused leadership development program created to provide lifelong leadership experience for student-athletes through a two-year structured skill development program. Year one consists of six leadership seminars that focus on creating an in-depth understanding of key leadership skills and competencies. Year two brings forth new speakers and workshops, while focusing on the five core values of the program (intention, service, empowerment, love and integrity).

School: Metropolitan State University of Denver 

Conference: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

Project: Miracle League. The MSU Denver softball team had a special evening with young people from the Miracle League of Metro Denver, welcoming them for a night of adaptive baseball. The league is a nonprofit that provides children and adults who are living with var­ious mental and/or physical challenges an op­portunity to play baseball as a team member in an organized league. The Miracle League players were able to come to the MSU Denver campus to play their annual night games. Alongside MSU Denver student-athletes, they learned fundamental skills of baseball and participated in a competitive event together. 

School: Kentucky State University

Conference: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 

Project: YMCA. The Kentucky State baseball team dedicated its service to The Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League, a local program affiliated with the Central Kentucky YMCA. The league is a special-needs baseball program for youth and adults in Central Kentucky. The league uses volunteers to serve as "buddies" for each player on game days to assist on the field with batting, fielding and base running. Kentucky State baseball players scheduled time to visit during the season to serve as buddies and fill in any other role as needed. Each fall, they participate in the Miracle League Game, which provides student-athletes an opportunity to interact with the kids, parents and families in a special community engagement program.

School: The University of Virginia's College at Wise

Conference: South Atlantic Conference

Project: Athletics peer coaching. The athletics peer coaching program at Virginia at Wise was created to close a gap for freshman student-athletes in college-readiness skill sets such as time management, study skills and overall adaption to college life. Serving the women's volleyball, basketball and lacrosse teams, in addition to men's basketball and baseball, the program provides underclass athletes with an upperclass "athletic peer coach" to meet with weekly and provide peer tutoring. 

School: Nova Southeastern University

Conference: Sunshine State Conference

Project: Pen pal program. Nova Southeastern's SAAC partnered with a local elementary school to begin a pen pal program. Through SAAC's leadership, 75 student-athletes committed to serving as leaders and giving back to the community by participating in the program.

At-Large School: Cedarville University

Project: Reading program. To stay engaged in community engagement during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cedarville athletics implemented the Yellow Jacket Virtual Reading Program in August 2020. This program has continued, and this past fall, 57 teachers from 10 schools registered their classes to participate in the eight-week virtual reading series. In addition, 265 books were donated to 11 classrooms. 

At-Large School: Coker University

Project: Darlington County Humane Society. The Coker women's lacrosse team has volunteered nearly 300 hours with the Darlington County Humane Society since fall 2021. While volunteering, members of the team have assisted with daily operations at the humane society and its annual fundraising event and spearheaded a monthly campus event called Canines and Coffee in the Courtyard. During this event, the Humane Society brought some of their animals who are up for adoption for students, faculty and staff to meet. 

At-Large School: Newberry College

Project: Screaming Eagles game. The Newberry College baseball and softball teams partnered with the Screaming Eagles special needs athletics organization to host a baseball game. The Screaming Eagles is a team composed of special-needs athletes of all ages and abilities who attend schools throughout the midlands of South Carolina. Newberry baseball and softball players helped to create a realistic athletic environment that was adapted to meet the needs of all participants.