The College of New Jersey’s Athletic Department has been named a recipient of the National Association of Division III Athletic Administrators (NADIIIAA) Jostens Community Service “Awards of Merit.”  TCNJ is one of one six Division III institutions cited by the NADIIIAA for the impressive community service projects performed by its student-athletes during the 2002-2003 academic year.

The awards program is co-sponsored by the NADIIIAA and Jostens and is intended to recognize the many contributions Division III student-athletes regularly make to their campuses and local communities. In addition to receiving commemorative trophies, the NADIIIAA and Jostens will make a $1,000 contribution to the general scholarship fund at each of the three institutions. The awards will be presented at the NCAA Convention to be held in Nashville, Tennessee on January 12. 

“The quality of the nominations makes the selection process extremely difficult”, stated NADIIIAA President Gary Karner. “It is very gratifying to see the many ways Division III student-athletes give back to their campuses and local communities on a regular basis. Our student-athletes are truly making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate than themselves”, said Karner. 

TCNJ’s student-athletes have been active working at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) at the TASK facility on Escher Street in Trenton. TASK has been receiving volunteer support from TCNJ’s varsity athletes for the past two years. On the third Wednesday of every month, TCNJ’s athletic teams take turns assisting with the TASK dinner meal and have served between 5,000-6,000 meals to date. “Our teams have established a special relationship with the Trenton Areas Soup Kitchen and both our student-athletes and the facility have really benefited from their involvement,” noted athletic director Kevin McHugh.

In addition, the athletic department has held an annual charity race-walk event in October the past three years. The first event held by the Lion athletic department was on October 14, 2001, to help aid in the raising of funds for the Disaster Relief Effort after the events that rocked the nation on September 11. On that day, TCNJ’s Department of Athletics sponsored the event, which was open to the public and saw nearly 500 people run or walk the 3.1 mile course around the campus. All of the varsity athletes from TCNJ’s 21 teams were on hand in uniform to do the run-walk and collected sponsors for the event. Over $13,000 was raised to lend financial assistance to the families of the victims of the World Trade Center Attack and Pentagon attacks.

With such an initial success, TCNJ’s Athletic Department made the concept of a Charity Run/Walk an annual event. In 2002, TCNJ donated money to the American Heart Association in memory of Caleb Bohman (Sussex, NJ), who tragically passed away from a heart ailment on January 6, 2002. The October 2003 on TCNJ’s campus and saw approximately 350 people compete and raise $4,000 for TASK.