Senior Send Off: Bartlett, Goltz Receive Scholar Athlete Awards
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (May 16, 2009) – Four years ago the Class of 2009 stepped foot on the campus of Occidental College as young freshmen. Today, more than 80 senior student-athletes gathered one final time for the 2009 Senior Scholar Athlete Banquet in which Kera Bartlett and Justin Goltz were honored with the Tiger Club Most Outstanding female and male scholar-athlete awards, respectively.
Since 1987, Tiger Club has presented annual awards to Occidental's most outstanding male and female scholar-athletes. The awards are made possible by the Roy Dennis Fund, established in memory of Occidental's longtime coach and athletic director. Criteria for nomination include a minimum grade-point average of 3.0, achievement in intercollegiate athletics at the varsity level and recommendations from both the teaching faculty and the Department of Athletics.
The 2009 recipients have contributed in the classroom, on the field and in the community.
Bartlett, a Diplomacy & World Affairs Major, holds the Occidental and SCIAC record (12’8”) in the Women’s Pole Vault and has qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships three consecutive years. She was the SCIAC Pole Vault Champion in 2007, 2008 and 2009. As a sophomore she earned All-America recognition and is a three-time Academic All-American. Academically, Bartlett participated in the UN internship program during the Fall of 2008 and begins her pursuit of a career in politics immediately following graduation with an internship lined up in Washington D.C.
“Kera has been an exemplary student at Occidental since her arrival freshman year when she convinced me to allow her to take my upper division course on US foreign policy,” Ambassador Derek Shearer shared. “I set Kera the task of creating a student-run online website on international affairs in her junior year, and she managed it brilliantly, displaying leadership and entrepreneurship.”
Goltz, an Economics for Business Management Major, contributed significantly to the Tigers’ 34-3 record during his four-year football career at Occidental, which took the black and orange to three Playoff appearances. In 2008, Goltz was named the SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year after ranking 14th nationally in passing efficiency for a team that ranked 8th in total team offense. He was named the 2008 Team Most Valuable Player. During his tenure at Occidental, Goltz also pitched on the baseball team for two seasons and played a significant role on the basketball team this winter, finishing third in the conference in rebounding.
When asked about his work in the classroom, Professor Stuart Rugg said, “Justin receives high marks for dependability, maturity, independent and group work skills; leadership skills; motivation and humor."
While Goltz has completed his academic and athletic careers at Occidental, his football future is still on the rise as he is currently pursuing a career with Detroit Lions of the National Football League.
On a day when much attention was focused on the senior class, the Department of Athletics took a moment to recognize and thank Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid, Bill Tingley, whose passion for Occidental athletics is admirable. Not only does he follow the teams through the website and attend numerous sporting events both on and off campus, but his behind-the-scenes mentorship and encouragement has remained a constant for the coaches and administration in Athletics.
During his 12 years at Occidental, he has certainly helped to shape this college with the applicant pool jumping from approximately 1700 in 1997 to over 6000 in 2009. With each year the talent pool and selectivity has increased and with SAT scores rising by well over 100 points, Oxy is comfortably among the nation’s top liberal arts colleges.
Throughout Tingley’s career his affiliation with athletics has certainly been appreciated. Today the Tigers would like to formally recognizing Bill for his contributions to the college, to the Department of Athletics and to the many individuals he has touched and inspired.
In honor of Bill Tingley, the first ever Lifetime Achievement award, on behalf of the Class of 2009 and all of the scholar athletes that he has supported throughout his career, was presented to Bill Tingley.
An overall look back at the 2008-09 academic year includes some impressive numbers.
OccidentalCollegesaw 406 student-athletes, 96 seniors, don the black and orange this year, with 56 completing four-year careers. There were 76 All-SCIAC award winners (38 seniors) with 23 Academic All-Americans (through the winter season).
A number of seniors were recognized by the SCIAC throughout the year. Nine times an Occidental athlete was named the SCIAC Athlete of the Week, including the senior class of Goltz, Brianne Brown (twice), Anthony Ostland and Richie Veihl. Goltz and Brown were both named the Athlete of the Year for football and women’s basketball, respectively, Brown earning her second consecutive honor. Celeste Faber and Bartlett each won individual SCIAC titles with Faber winning both the one meter and three meter diving events at this winter’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
During the tenure of the Class of 2009 the men’s cross country, football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams have all won multiple-SCIAC titles with appearances at the National level.
Congratulations and thank you to the graduating seniors.
Go TIGERS!
