Strong and Smart

Gambier, Ohio (August 24, 2006) Kenyon's athletics department earned recognition in the recently released National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA) Top 25 Power Ranking, which honors colleges for exceptional achievement in both athletics and academics. Kenyon was listed at number 19 in the third annual national ranking, which evaluated all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III institutions.

The NCSA determines the Power Ranking by taking into account an institution's national Sears Cup athletic rank, its U.S. News and World Report academic rank, and its student-athlete graduation success. Kenyon finished forty-fifth in the Sears Cup standings during the 2005-06 academic year and was number 32 among national liberal-arts colleges in last year's U.S. News and World Report ranking of America's best colleges. Those rankings, combined with a superior graduation rate, boosted Kenyon into the NCSA's Top 25.

"At Kenyon, administrators, coaches, and faculty all pay close attention to maintaining student-athletes' achievement in the classroom, and I believe this ranking is a reflection of that awareness," said Peter Smith, Kenyon's director of athletics, fitness, and recreation. "NCAA Division III keeps growing larger, but we have not lost sight of the fact that it is possible to excel in athletics without sacrificing academic success."

Kenyon was the only Division III institution from Ohio to make the NCSA Top 25 and was the only representative from the North Coast Athletic Conference. In an overall ranking, which included nearly 1,200 institutions from all NCAA divisions, Kenyon earned a spot at number 33.