ORLANDO, Fla. – University of Maine football graduate student Jeffrey DeVaughn has been honored with Academic Momentum First Team honors, as announced by the Scholar Baller program in conjunction with the Institute for Sport & Social Justice (ISSJ).
 
DeVaughn, a graduate student from Folcroft, PA, earned his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology & Physical Education in August of 2018 and is now pursuing a Masters Degree in Student Development in High Education. DeVaughn, a captain for the 2018 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Champion and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Final Four participant Black Bears, finished the season as Maine's leader in solo tackles (56)
 
An accomplished student-athlete in the classroom, on the field and in the community, DeVaughn was recently named The 'M' Club Dean Smith Award winner, which is presented annually to the top male student-athlete at UMaine. On May 21, DeVaughn was one of two Black Bear student-athletes to be nominated for America East Man of the Year.

Honorees were chosen based on each student-athlete's academic improvement and the impact each student-athlete's academic performance had on his or her classmates, teammates, academic advisors, and professors.
 
A total of 66 male and female award recipients from ISSJ partner schools nation-wide were selected as recipients of Academic Momentum Awards. DeVaughn was one of 23 male and female student-athletes to land on the first team.
 
Established in 1995, the Scholar Baller® movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athlete's athletics role increasingly superseded the student role. In order to address this issue, the founding members of Scholar Baller® developed a groundbreaking program to bridge the gap between education and sport utilizing student-athletes' passion for entertainment and athletics. As a result, the Scholar Baller® program produced unprecedented outcomes in student retention and academic achievement.
 
The ISSJ is an ever-growing organization of colleges and universities that provides opportunities for current and former student-athletes to continue their pursuit of higher education, while working in the community with children to address social issues. Established in 1985, the overall mission of the ISSJ is "to create a better society by focusing on education attainment and using the power appeal of sport to positively affect social change."
  
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