CLEVELAND - The National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) has announced the recipients of the NADIIIAA Community Service Awards.

Each of the selected institutions is being recognized for the impressive community service projects performed by its student-athletes during the 2020-21 academic year.  

The awards recognition will take place at the NADIIIAA reception sponsored by eTeamSponsor taking place in conjunction with the NCAA Convention on Friday, Jan. 21 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. ET. In addition to presenting commemorative awards to the three winning institutions, NADIIIAA will make up to a $1,000 contribution to the general scholarship fund at each of these institutions.   
 
The NADIIIAA Community Service Awards program, established in 2001, is intended to recognize the many contributions Division III student-athletes regularly make to their campuses and local communities. Recognition is given for projects in three categories: One-Time Activity/Project (Haverford College), Array of Projects (Stevens Institute of Technology) and Special Olympics Activity (Shenandoah University). 

In addition to the winners, each category had a runner-up and third place finisher. Below are the 2020-21 NADIIIAA Community Service Award recipients: 

One-Time Project Category 
Winner: Haverford College 
Haverford 2021 graduate and former men's soccer player, Brett Mozarsky, drafted a program to give back to front line workers, who were unable to provide academic support to middle and high school students from all over the country. The program, Free for the Frontline Tutors, aims to help those students overcome the academic challenges presented by isolation and remote learning during the pandemic. The program includes more than 50 tutors, primarily from Haverford, and has been featured on local and national media outlets. Click here to learn more!

Runner-up: Williams College 
Williams, Amherst College and Wesleyan College partnered to crown a Little Three Champion, the only one in the year. The virtual Little 3 Turkey Trot was an opportunity for the three institutions to compete to raise the most funds for their area's local Special Olympics chapter. Students, faculty and staff were able to participate in the fun run and provided the schools an opportunity to compete against one another while not during athletics competition. (Learn more) 

Third place: Springfield College  
Members of the Springfield Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT), which is the campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, conducted a campus-wide food drive and collected over 50 boxes of food to help alleviate food scarcity in the community. The food was donated to Pride Pantry, a place where anyone in the community may come to be served. (Learn more) 

An Array of Projects Category
Winner: Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens) 
Stevens tallied close to 1,400 hours of combined projects and activities between its 369 student-athletes on campus. The activities ranged from mentoring children at the Boys & Girls Club of Hoboken to a food drive to letters to front line workers and St. Jude Hospital patients to a dance marathon and a celebration in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Click here to learn more! 

Runner-up: East Texas Baptist University 
The East Texas Baptist softball team spent 250-plus hours on a pen pal program that focused on children undergoing cancer treatment who were unable to have visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions, along with some children who had lost a parent, were dealing with anxiety or depression and one child who had a brain injury. The team sends weekly letters and includes pictures of the team, player cards, coloring sheets, etc. (Learn more)

Third place: Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) 
RIT began a year-long push for individuals to sign-up for, donate to, raise money and create silent auction gift baskets for the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life on Campus. In addition, each RIT team, along with the administration staff adopted a family for Thanksgiving and provided items and goods to families in need. The final program submitted was Special Olympics Unified Sports Virtual Challenge, allowing teams to teach a specific activity via Zoom. (Learn more) 

Special Olympics Activity Category 
Winner: Shenandoah University  
Since January 2021, Shenandoah student-athletes and teams have hosted weekly virtual workouts with the Area 13 Special Olympians. Each week, a different team leads the athletes through a workout related to their sport, with a focus on keeping the athletes active and moving while their sports were canceled during COVID-19. Click here to learn more! 
 
Runner-up: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) 
Due to the pandemic canceling all in-person Special Olympic activities, the CCIW Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Board came up with a virtual stretching and trivia event, Stretch into Spring. The strength coach from Augustana College dressed as Batman and led Special Olympians and student-athletes through a fun workout via Zoom, while incorporating trivia questions to keep the participants engaged. The spring event was so successful that the group hosted 'Fall into Fitness.' (Learn more) 

Third place: Bates College  
The Bates Special Olympics Club was one of 30 different institutions that competed in the inaugural Special Olympics Unified Sports Virtual College Championship week. Throughout the week, team members connected and spread a message of inclusion through social media, competing against each other while following COVID-19 guidelines. Bates worked with the Navigators program that is part of John F. Murphy homes, a highly respected provider of services for individuals with intellectual disabilities and other developmental disabilities. (Learn more) 

About NADIIIAA: NADIIIAA athletics administrators from over 350 institutions and conferences competing at the NCAA Division III level. The Association encourages the continued development of athletics programs focused on the student-athlete and based on sound educational principles and the Division III philosophy. NADIIIAA is administered by NACDA, which is in its 57th year. For more information on NACDA, the 17 professional associations and/or three foundations it manages, please visit www.nacda.com.