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The Atlantic 10 Conference announced in June that 332 of student-athletes earned the Commissioner’s Honor Roll distinction for the 2020-21 academic year. Mason recorded the second highest number of honorees behind University of Massachusetts, which had one additional student honored. Overall in the A-10 there were 3,849 student-athlete honorees.

Despite the pandemic, Mason also set a record for the number of its student-athletes being honored, up 84 from the prior record-setting year.

“It is inspiring to learn about the achievements of our student-athletes in their academic programs. I am proud of our student-athletes and delighted by their being recognized as members of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, especially during this very challenging year,” said . “This very impressive honor is a tribute to their success in the classroom.”

A student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport must have a 3.0 GPA for the academic year to be selected for the Commissioner's Honor Roll. Freshmen and graduate students are eligible to receive the award. This year, 218 of Mason’s 332 student-athletes honored achieved a 3.5 GPA or higher and 23 of them had a 4.0 GPA.

"Our student-athletes continue to achieve an impressive standard of academic excellence within the Atlantic 10," said Brad Edwards, assistant vice president and director of Athletics. "We are so proud of their record-breaking efforts in the classroom. Additionally, despite extraordinary challenges, our 22 athletic programs thrived—as each posted a spring cumulative team grade point average of over 3.0.”

Mason has a long history of honoring and encouraging the academic success of its student-athletes. Mason student-athletes with a GPA of 3.75 or higher who have completed at least three academic terms earn the Peter N. Stearns Provost Scholar Athlete Award. But after a particularly challenging year for students, the Atlantic 10 announcement was especially impressive and spoke to the student-athletes’ dedication to their academics, said , Mason Athletics’ senior associate AD for academic services.

Rogers said that the success of the students was a “testament to the caliber of student-athletes recruited by our university, as well as to our Athletics academic support staff, coaches and administrators that continues to assist, engage and lead our students to achieve academic success and honors.”