NEC Athletes Make the News
Members of the New England College athletic teams have made the news on several occasions this season. At the College’s recent Founders’ Day celebration 212 NEC students were applauded for their placement on the Fall 2009 Dean’s List. Over a third of the College’s 33-member Pilgrim Ice Hockey Team were included in that semester’s Dean’s List.
To be named to the Dean’s List a student must complete twelve credits each semester and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.5. The College considers a 3.5 average to represent excellent academic achievement. In his Founders’ Day address to the NEC community, Dr. Don Melander, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Arts and Sciences asked students to consider whether the values that form the framework of the College’s academic philosophy were isolated principles or whether, together, they formed a more meaningful whole. “You have the heart, the courage, of the student of the liberal arts and sciences to engage seriously in participating in this work,” stated Dr. Melander. “I congratulate you on your meeting this responsibility.”
Recent research by the NEC Athletic Department indicates that over two thirds of the Pilgrim Ice Hockey Team have a 3.0 GPA or better. According to Lori Runksmeier, Director of Athletics, “Athletes are accustomed to rigorous discipline when it comes to their sport. We believe that the conditioning they experience as an athlete helps to prepare them for the academic challenges they face as a student. Athletics are often a place where students build a strong sense of self confidence and find many opportunities to take leadership roles. Again, the value of this experience can be extremely helpful when applied to the academic setting.”
Among the eighteen college students listed as finalists for the 2010 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award is NEC senior Jon Globke. Jon, who comes from West Bloomfield, Michigan, plays forward on the Pilgrim Ice Hockey Team. According to the nomination guidelines, students must demonstrate positive character traits, academic accomplishments, and community involvement, in order to be considered for the award. For the past four years Jon has participated in Concord’s Buddy Walk in support of the Northern New England Down Syndrome Congress. He has also participated in the annual Run for the Troops sponsored by New England College to raise funds and collect supplies to be sent to active military overseas. 
Jon has been a member of the Student Athlete Advisor Committee and currently serves as president. He has organized a campus-wide food drive to benefit the Henniker community and a teddy bear toss to support the St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester, New Hampshire. Jon has served as a campus resident advisor and is president of the campus health and science club. He has been inducted into the Chi Alpha Sigma National Academic Honor Society and was named ECAC East All-Academic Athlete. He is the only ECAC East student-athlete to be nominated for this award. The recipient of the 2010 award will be introduced at Ford Field in Detroit at the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four.
The February issue of the New England Hockey Journal features an article on the NEC Pilgrim Ice Hockey Team by reporter Chris Carlson. In it, Carlson focuses on the international quality of the team which includes players from Finland, Sweden, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Coach Tom Carroll attributes the multi-national component of the team to two reasons: players who have had positive experiences at New England College have shared their success with friends at home, often creating a string of players from their native country; also, students in other countries don’t always have the ability to devote as much time to both academic studies and athletics as their American counterparts. As the article points out, the prevailing language on the NEC team is English and players who speak more than a sentence in their native language are fined a dollar. The fines are collected and used to fund a barbecue for the whole team at the end of the year. And as one player points out, once on the ice, instructions in Swedish, Finnish, or Japanese can get garbled in the heat of tournament play!
The NEC Pilgrim ice hockey program boasts a legacy of winning teams. They were ECAC East Champions in 2000--01 and 2004-05 and made appearances in eleven straight ECAC East Playoff series. They made NCAA Tournament bids in 2000-01 and 2004-05 and competed in the NCAA semifinalist round in 2004-05.
