At La Salle, it’s more than just a catchphrase. It’s a culture that permeates the entire University. Academic success is the number one priority for student-athletes, coaches, and administration and the data shows that La Salle does it as well as anyone in Division I athletics.

La Salle student-athletes perform better than their peers in terms of graduation rates and grade point averages. La Salle’s student-athlete graduation success rate is 89 percent, compared to 82 percent, the national average for NCAA Division I schools.

Last year, four La Salle student-athletes received Academic or Scholar All-America honors and seven student-athletes were named the top student in their academic department.

Five teams, including men’s basketball, were recognized in the top 10 percent in their sport in the NCAA Academic Progress Rate. In addition, 13 teams were honored as national academic teams by their respective coaches associations.

The Atlantic 10 also promotes academic success and the Explorers had 261 student-athletes on the Commissioner’s Honor Roll last year, ranking second in the conference. Seventeen student-athletes were named to an Academic All-Atlantic 10 team last season.

The student-athletes do not do it alone. Morgan Szekely, ’18, a two-time Atlantic 10 champion in cross country and also a two-time Scholar All-American, believes the coaches and professors at La Salle are invested in developing the whole person.

“One of the main reasons students choose La Salle is because of the people,” she said. “You know you are going to get help and meet people who have your best intentions in mind. There are people here that care about your well-being not just as an athlete, but as a student.”

Hank Davis, ’17

Hank Davis, ’17, the Big 5 Scholar-Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball, who was recently published in an academic journal for his article on time management by student-athletes, believes it’s the Lasallian mission that sets apart his professors from those at other schools.

“There’s this Lasallian mentality that everyone wants the best for you,” Davis said. “Everyone is involved in every aspect of your career here, whether it’s research, athletics or academics.”

Balancing the time demands of a Division I athlete that include strength training, practice, individual workouts, games, and travel is difficult. But according to Joey Ravert, ’16, an All-Atlantic 10 baseball player who received Academic All-District recognition last spring, the busy schedule actually helps him complete his assignments.

“I’ve found that I’ve done better academically in season,” he said. “It’s easier when I know how much work I have to do and how busy I am. When you know you have a lot to get done, you just get on it. You can’t put it off.”

Kendra Heyer, ’16, a softball player who has a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a five-year speech-language pathology major, agrees.

“I’m used to having the structure and I think it helps me to get things done,” she said. “When you have practice, lifting, and class, it forces you to get ahead on things. I know when I have a test two months away and I need to start studying three weeks earlier because I have five games that week. You can’t wait until the week of to start studying.”

The culture of academic success is a byproduct of the Lasallian mission of the coaches, administration staff, and professors at La Salle that make “student-athlete” more than just a phrase in NCAA commercials. At La Salle, it really means something.