In the last few years, and thanks to generous donations from alumni Michael and Larry Smith and growing numbers of individual donors, we have been able to expand our intercollegiate athletics programs here at Suffolk. We have added new sports, renovated our facilities, and expanded our full-time coaching staff. These investments are paying off.

They are paying off in terms of the experiences we give our student athletes, the leadership and teamwork capacities athletics engagement fosters, and in the competitive accomplishments of our teams and individual student athletes. Just this month the men’s indoor track and field team, led by coach Will Feldman, took the GNAC title, and in November, Coach Feldman was named Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the second year in a row. Our women’s soccer team had a record-setting season last fall, and coach Ashley Van Vechten was awarded GNAC Coach of the Year. Women’s volleyball had their winningest season in program history. Our students have been named to all-conference teams, set records in sports ranging from cross country to basketball, and are true scholars with significant academic accomplishments and impressive community engagement from fundraising for breast cancer research to taking stands against bullying.

We are and should be proud of our student athletes and our coaches. This past Saturday, I was especially proud of our players, our coaches, and our fans. On Saturday, Jeff Juron, head coach of the Suffolk men’s basketball team, was awarded the Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award. This award recognizes both Coach Juron and the broader men’s basketball program. The award is presented to the college or university which, in the judgement of the College Basketball Officials Association (CBOA), “best exemplifies the highest degree of sportsmanship, character, and ethics among their players, coaches, and spectators.” The award has been given annually since the 1956-1957 academic year, and is the highest honor that the CBOA awards.

Congratulations Coach Juron and the entire Suffolk Athletics Department for all you are accomplishing on the field, rink, court, or course, and outside of those venues as you foster leadership, community engagement, and collaboration in ways that transcend any single athletics competition.

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Marisa J. Kelly
President