Wednesday evening, Life University hosted its annual banquet honoring student achievement in extracurricular activities. Among those honored were Life U student-athletes Janaya Simmons and Cody Melphy for their personification of the NAIA's five core character values of respect, responsibility, sportsmanship, integrity and servant leadership.
Life U Athletics continues to grow, and as the number of student-athletes increases, they become a larger segment within the culture and fabric of the Life U Community. Recognizing this, the Athletics administration and coaches place the highest priorities on graduation rate, academic performance and character development, over wins and losses.
The Athletic administration monitors all our student-athletes throughout the year, keeping an eye on their performance both in and out of the arena, while taking into account the feedback we receive from professors, administrators, coaches, and their peers. The list we started with was very long, and after an extensive process, we came up with our choices for our 2016 Life U Champions of Character:
Janaya Simmons, a member of the Life U Volleyball team, maintains a 3.75 GPA while balancing her coursework, practice, game and travel time with the team, as well as coaching youth through the North Atlanta Volleyball Club (NAVC). She was recently named team captain by her peers for her work ethic, leadership and willingness to help others in a selfless manner. Janaya was the very first recruit to be part of the inaugural volleyball team that began in the fall of 2015 and has now grown to 21 student-athletes.
Cody Melphy, a member of the 2016 D1A national champion rugby team, maintains a 4.0 GPA taking a heavier-than-normal classload. He epitomizes the culture of Life U Rugby by doing all the little things that make one successful both in an out of the arena, Cody is a consummate leader and teammate, putting team above himself with a positive attitude and work rate that is infectious.
Congratulations to our 2016 Champions of Character!
