Monday Moments with President Bergman: November 18, 2019Gustavus President Rebecca M. Bergman shares her thoughts with College employees each week.
Posted on November 18th, 2019 by

President Rebecca M. Bergman

I had a busy Saturday on campus, cheering for the Gusties at several home athletic events. Our football team finished their season with a decisive win over St. Olaf. Women’s and Men’s Hockey and Women’s Basketball all played home games. It was great fun to watch our students perform–on the field, on the ice, and on the court. As always, I was impressed with the exemplary effort and sportsmanship displayed by our student-athletes. We are fortunate at Gustavus to have athletic coaches who are dedicated to working with so many of our students, helping them to learn and grow as individuals and to perform their very best as teams.

Excellence in athletics is a longstanding tradition at Gustavus, and we can all be very proud of our track record in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Gustavus is uncompromising in upholding the philosophy of NCAA Division III athletics, where athletes are students first and, at the same time, have the opportunity to pursue excellence in athletics.
Here are several bragging points for Gustavus athletics:
  • Gustavus now boasts 114 Academic All-Americans, which is the most in the MIAC and 12th most in NCAA Division III.
  • Gustavus ranks in the top 10 for the most postgraduate scholars among all NCAA schools (Divisions I, II, and III), with 30 recipients in the last 15 years. Gustavus has had a total of 39 student athletes receive NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships since football player James Goodwin became the first in 1974.
  • Gustavus has had 11 teams win national championships including gymnastics, men’s golf, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis.
  • Men’s and women’s athletic teams have won 257 MIAC Championships and 56 league playoff titles since the conference was founded 100 years ago.

This year, approximately 600 students are on the rosters of our intercollegiate athletic teams, which is more than 25 percent of our total enrollment. Our coaches are tremendous recruiters and serve as critical members of our admission team. Over 40 percent of our incoming students have at least one interaction with a coach during their senior year in high school. That kind of personalized approach is often the deciding factor in a prospective student saying “yes” to Gustavus. Thank you, coaches, for your diligence in recruiting talented Gusties.

Please join me in thanking our athletic coaches for their passion for coaching, their commitment to teaching, and their dedication to an exceptional student-athlete experience for each of our Gustie athletes. Better yet, show your support for our students by attending games and enthusiastically cheering for them. I’ll see you there!
Until next week, keep up the good work, Gusties!
With respect,
Becky
P.S. I would be remiss not to mention the success of our Men’s and Women’s Cross Country and Men’s Soccer teams. Cross country competed in regionals at Wartburg College and one woman and two men will go on to race in the NCAA Championships this weekend! Men’s soccer competed in the NCAA tournament in Chicago. The team won their first game against Colorado College on Saturday. On Sunday, the team lost a very close game against North Park in the second round of the tournament. Congratulations to Coach Brenden Huber, Coach Tudor Flintham, and their teams for outstanding seasons.
 

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