Commissioner Bob Hogue tours the PacWest presenting series of awards to member schools

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – During the fall semester, Pacific West Conference Commissioner Bob Hogue traveled throughout the most beautiful destination conference in all of NCAA Division II delivering special awards to its member institutions.

Hogue’s tour began in Hawai‘i, ended in Utah and featured five stops to present the conference’s most prestigious honors – The Community Engagement Award, The Make-A-Wish Award, the Academic Achievement Award, and the Commissioner’s Cup.

The tour started on Sept. 23 when Hogue visited Honolulu and presented Hawai‘i Pacific with the PacWest Commissioner’s Cup for the second straight year. HPU captured the cup by posting an average finish of nearly third place in each of its 11 sports.

Hogue’s trip continued into the Bay Area on Oct. 6 when he presented the first of two PacWest Community Engagement Awards – the first to Notre Dame de Namur - during a volleyball match vs. Dixie State.

Hogue presented the honor to Dr. Judith Greig, NDNU’s president; Hernan Bucheli, the vice president for enrollment management; and junior Natellie Saia (Morro Bay, CA/Morro Bay), a member of the women’s basketball team who also serves as president of NDNU’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

The annual award recognizes outstanding community service and projects performed by a PacWest member’s SAAC. A panel reviews the nominations and chooses a winner.

This marks the first time in the four-year history of the award that the honor has been shared. Dixie State – the co-winner with NDNU - becomes the first two-time recipient.

“Every year it gets more and more difficult to select a winner because of the outstanding effort by the student-athletes in the PacWest,” Hogue said. “This year the student-athletes at Notre Dame de Namur and Dixie State did an outstanding job and they, along with their institutions, deserve this honor.”

NDNU integrates community engagement activities as an important part of its curriculum through its First Year Experience courses and a wide variety of community-based learning courses. Argonaut students and faculty regularly commit approximately 100,000 hours of service to the local community either as volunteers or as part of their course of study.

 Just 24 hours later on Oct. 7, Hogue headed to San Rafael, Calif., to present Dominican University of California with the PacWest Academic Achievement Award for the second consecutive year.

President Mary B. Marcy and Chairman of the Board John R. Gaulding were on hand to receive the honor.

"Dominican had another tremendous year in the classroom and should be lauded for its consistent and outstanding effort," Hogue said. "For the second straight year, the conference student-athletes set a record with six of the nine PacWest athletic programs boasting a GPA of at least 3.0.”

The Penguin athletic program put together a 3.25 grade point average to claim the only PacWest team championship earned in the classroom. The grade point average for each school is not based upon its cumulative average, but rather an average of how each student athlete performed in the classroom during the 2010-11 academic year.

Hogue journeyed to Phoenix on Dec. 3 where he presented Grand Canyon University with the inaugural PacWest Make-A-Wish Award during the Antelopes men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader vs. NDNU.

The award recognizes PacWest institutions and their Student Athlete Advisory Committees (SAAC) for excelling in their efforts to enrich the lives of children with life-threatening medical conditions. GCU’s athletic department and SAAC committee generated more than $6,500 in funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“We initiated the PacWest Make-A-Wish Award this year to recognize the outstanding efforts of our institutions and our student-athletes who give selflessly to help bring joy to children and their families during difficult times in their lives,” Hogue said. “All of our institutions and student-athletes do a tremendous job, and I am proud to present Grand Canyon with this inaugural award.”

On Dec. 5, Hogue traveled north to St. George, Utah, where he presented the second Community Engagement Award to Dixie State during its women’s and men’s basketball twinbill vs. NDNU. Hogue presented the honor to Dixie State SAAC President Gabby Rodriguez.

Red Storm student-athletes, coaches and administrators made a renewed effort to reach out to the St. George and surrounding communities through appearances, service projects, school visits, food drives and more.

Dixie State student-athletes spent more than 582 hours in the community during the 2010-11 school year, averaging over 72 hours per month.

"It's a great honor to present these awards in person and to recognize all of our outstanding accomplishments around the PacWest," Hogue said.