Nine Golden Falcons Recognized as Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars by Diverse Issues: Celebrating Excellence in Athletics and Academics at Felician University

The periodical Diverse Issues in Higher Education has chosen nine Felician University student-athletes as 2021 Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars. The award winners come from the sports of men’s baseball and golf and women’s cross-country, lacrosse, soccer, softball, track & field, and volleyball. They were announced in the Apr. 29 issue of the magazine, a digital version of which is available at tinyurl.com/mpdm9rr2.

Diverse Issues established the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars Program, named for the late tennis star, in 1992 to honor outstanding undergraduate students of diverse and foreign backgrounds. Each winner must be a non-freshman who competes in an intercollegiate sport, maintains a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.50, and is active on his/her campus or in the community.

Three of the Golden Falcons’ 2021 winners – women’s cross-country’s Shayla Morales (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) and Gonzalo Maldonado Felices (Almeria, Spain/Stella Maris) and Adrian Mayorga (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) of men’s golf – are repeat honorees, having also earned the award in 2020. This year’s full list from Felician is below.

Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars are named annually. Felician has seen 151 of its student-athletes honored during its 17 years of participation in the program. The qualifying GPA was raised to 3.50 from 3.20 in 2019.

Felician is a member of NCAA Division II. Thirteen of the Golden Falcons’ 14 varsity intercollegiate sports compete in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference; women’s bowling is an associate member of the East Coast Conference.