Boston, MA –
National STUDENT-Athlete Day (NSAD) is annually celebrated on April 6 to acknowledge the success of our high-school and collegiate student-athletes on the playing field, in their classrooms, and in their communities.

Sport in Society hosted their annual event in recognition of NSAD on April 13, 2000: the Massachusetts Student-Athletes Citizenship Awards.

Approximately 250 student-athletes attended the event, whose theme this year was "Civility, Character, and Community."

Northeastern University's Blackman Auditorium was the site of the event which featured three interactive panel discussions. Each panel consisted of two high school student-athletes, a student-athlete from NU, and a collegiate-level athletics coach.

The "Civility Panel" consisted of:

The "Character Panel" included:

The "Community Panel" was comprised of:

The Keynote address was delivered by NU women's hockey student-athlete, Kim Beneduce. Beneduce, a senior who played on the 1997 ECAC Championship NU Hockey team and who maintains a 3.5 GPA, encouraged the student-athletes to remain active in their communities when they advance to college and to embrace their status as role models.

Inspirational remarks were made by Sport in Society Director Richard Lapchick; William H. Gaine, Jr., the Deputy Director of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA); and Larry Brady, Director of Retail Marketing, Reebok International Ltd.

At the conclusion of the event, all 250 student-athlete attendees were welcomed on stage to accept the NSAD Awards Certificate and were greeted on stage by the MIAA's Gaine and Sport in Society's Kevin J. Matthews, the Northeast Regional Office Director of the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS).