BEAUMONT, Texas — Student-athletes make a lot of sacrifices to compete on a high level in the sport they love, but Lamar University wanted to make sure that graduation is not one of them. Due to travel for both the Cardinal baseball and track and field teams last week during the university's normal Spring Commencement, several student-athletes were unable to attend graduation. To make sure those student-athletes are properly honored, LU held a special graduation ceremony at the LU Welcome Center Friday afternoon.
The student-athletes who received their degrees Friday were Parl Eelma (women's track and field), Brian Raven (men's track and field), Daniel Cole (baseball), Jack Dallas (baseball), Braxton Douthit (baseball), Reese Durand (baseball), Deric LaMontagne (baseball), Matt McDonald (baseball) and Ryan Snell (baseball).
Friday's group is a small part of 37 student-athletes who graduated during the spring, bring the total number of student-athletes who have received a degree during the 2021-22 academic year to 55, and more than 110 graduates in the last two years.
In addition to the total number graduates, LU's student-athletes registered a staggering 44 4.0 grade-point averages, more than 100 3.5 GPAs and nearly 175 3.0 GPAs.