DIII honors Emerald Svienty, Juliet Suess with LGBTQ Student-Athlete, Coach of the Year awards

The two 2024 Division III LGBTQ of the Year recipients are Emerald Svienty, a men's cross country student-athlete at North Central (Illinois), and Juliet Suess, head swimming and diving coach at Chapman. The recipients were honored at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The Division III LGBTQ of the Year Recognition Award Program, developed by the Division III LGBTQIA+ Working Group, aims to recognize, honor and celebrate the academic achievements, athletics excellence, service and leadership of LGBTQ student-athletes and the service, leadership and promotion of LGBTQ inclusion by an LGBTQ athletics administrator, coach or staff member. The Athletics Department/Conference of the Year Award was not given this year. 

Learn more about this year's recipients below. 

2024 Division III LGBTQ Student-Athlete of the Year Award 

Emerald Svienty, men's cross country/track and field, North Central (Illinois) 

Svienty, a transgender student-athlete, has had an active voice in conversations about LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion. Through using their personal social media accounts, speaking on LGBTQ+ issues on podcasts and having conversations with coaches, teammates and administrators, Svienty has become a beacon of education on LGBTQ+ issues. Svienty also has been a dominant distance runner at North Central. While earning an undergraduate degree in elementary education, Svienty earned three United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honors, 11 All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honors, College Sports Communicators Academic All-America first-team honors and a USTFCCCA Division III Scholar-Athlete of the Year award. 

Svienty hopes to inspire other transgender and queer athletes.  

"This year, I worked with the athletics and diversity departments to be part of a panel in which I spoke on my experience being a queer and trans athlete. This gave me a space to have a voice and to bring to light many trans and queer issues to a larger audience than the normal people I talk to," Svienty said. "It also allowed me to be proud of who I was, and to continue to be a leader for my community, sport and school. In finding and being who I truly am, I was able to succeed even more in my sport. The more that I was myself, the better I felt and the better I competed." 

2024 Division III LGBTQ Administrator/Coach/Staff of the Year Award 

Juliet Suess, head swimming and diving coach, Chapman 

Juliet Suess has used their platform on Chapman's campus to advocate, educate and raise awareness on LGBTQ+ issues. Suess, who identifies as nonbinary, has spoken on podcasts, been interviewed for articles and served as a guest lecturer in multiple classes. They are also a member of an LGBTQ+ advisory group on campus and served on various panels for LGBTQ+ events, including for Preview Day for incoming students. Suess has spearheaded an effort to put together new policies and procedures on campus. Suess said their biggest accomplishment has been their work as an advisor on the IMPACT Committee, which seeks to advance diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. 

"In my role as IMPACT chair, I am helping to cultivate DEI-based policies, as well as ensuring all policies are LGBTQ+ inclusive," Suess said. "I have been interviewed by … a variety of students, which shows that my presence and impact on campus is going beyond just sport and my department. It has been a pleasure to be in the classroom, as well as have students who I have never met come to me for advice and insight."