Top ten scholars headline annual academic luncheon

This story was originally published at goheels.com. Photos by Jeffrey A. Camarati.

More than 300 UNC student-athletes, coaches, faculty and staff members gathered Wednesday afternoon for the annual Carolina Athletics Academic Awards Luncheon, celebrating academic successes and achievement of the past year. At the George Watts Hill Alumni Center, the group applauded award winners ranging from All-ACC Academic Teams, Phi Beta Kappa inductees and 4.0 Club members.

Headlining the event were this year's Top Ten Scholar-Athletes, the five men and five women graduating with the highest cumulative grade point averages. As a group, they carry a stellar 3.89 GPA. Each took the stage to offer a few words of thanks and advice.

Elizabeth Scotty is a member of the women's tennis team and is working toward a double major in media & journalism and political science with a minor in English. Her team is fresh off winning the 2024 ACC Championship and is also the defending NCAA Champion, and she talked about how those around her helped her succeed academically while also doing so athletically. Her invited guest, Jules Dixon-Green of the Hussman School of Journalism & Media, supported her when she had to miss a class because of tennis, and her head coach, Brian Kalbas, worked with her to keep those times to a minimum, throwing out his trademark "not a problem" when she needed to prioritize academics and job interviews.

Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham, Jules Dixon-Green and Elizabeth Scotty.

Natalia Aseguinolaza is a member of the women's golf team who is majoring in business administration. A native of San Sebastian, Guipozcoa, Spain, she spoke of taking along skills she's practiced as a student-athlete – teamwork, perseverance and honesty – as she moves to New York for work after graduation. Each of the honorees invited a faculty member or mentor who has impacted them during their time in Chapel Hill, and Aseguinolaza's guest was Jackie Fritsch, Associate Director of Admissions and Recruitment at Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Dorritt Eisenbeis is a member of the field hockey team who is majoring in exercise and sport science with minors in entrepreneurship and health & society. An NCAA and ACC Champion who plans to play one more season as a graduate student, she spoke of learning how to lead and how to learn, and she urged other student-athletes to utilize the outstanding Carolina network. Her guest was Chris Mumford of the Shuford Program in Entrepreneurship.

Christopher Holliday is a member of the football team who is working toward a double major in economics and exercise & sport science with a minor in business administration. This year's recipient of the Wells Fargo Postgraduate Scholarship and a Morehead-Cain Scholar, he said, "everyone has a plan for how college will go, but if you do it right it will not go according to plan." His guest was Dr. Erianne Weight from the Exercise & Sport Science Department.

Rob Landry is a member of the men's basketball team who is working toward a double major in business administration and chemistry with a minor in biology. He spoke of his decision to follow his faith and stop focusing on his GPA, which ultimately helped his academic performance and the challenges of balancing academics and basketball. His guest was Dr. Chad Pecot of the UNC School of Medicine.

Jack Loftus is a member of the men's lacrosse team who is majoring in business administration. His remarks followed his team's motto of "Family, Academics, Lacrosse," and he spoke of how the past four years in the program have made him a better person. His guest was Sandeep Rath, an Assistant Professor of Operations at Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Loftus shared a practical takeaway from Rath's class: He used Little's law to determine whether he and his teammates had time to wait in a long line for food before departing for a team trip. His calculations were correct, and he got to the bus on time, with bagel in hand.

Gigi Maroney is a member of the rowing team and is working toward a double major in political science and anthropology with a minor in Chinese. She spoke of the inspiration she gets from the coaches and teams around her and advised those in the crowd, "if you find something you love, stick with it even when it gets hard." Her guests were Cassandra Weatherford and Allen Wilson, who have served as mentors to her and supporters of the team during her time at UNC.

Alec Mulvaney is a member of the men's fencing team and majoring in business administration with minors in information systems and anthropology. Part of the Tar Heel squad that both won the team's first ACC Championship since 1980 and registered the highest GPA of any UNC men's team for the sixth year in a row, Mulvaney spoke of how much relationships and environment matter. His guest for the luncheon was Dr. Brendan Carr, part of UNC's Mental Health and Performance Psychology.

Peter Murphy is a member of the men's tennis team and is majoring in business administration with a minor in Spanish. He wasn't able to attend as his team was headed for Knoxville, Tenn., for NCAA Tournament play, but he sent along a note of appreciation for his guest, Wendell Gilland of Kenan-Flagler, noting how Professor Gilland went above and beyond to create a welcoming and encouraging environment for his students. 

Lauren Walsh is a member of the rowing team and is working toward a major in business administration with a minor in conflict management. After introducing her guest, Arzu Ozouz from Kenan-Flagler, Walsh spoke of the growth she'd experienced at UNC and the countless lessons she'd learned, thanking her teammates, coaches and the entire Athletic Department for helping her live out her dream of being a Carolina student-athlete.

The group also heard from Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham, who closed out the program by thanking the faculty and staff guests as well as the staff of the Academic Support Program for Student-Athletes, which organized the luncheon, for their dedication to helping Carolina student-athletes excel academically. As was the case for likely all in the crowd, he said that the Top Ten speeches would stick with him and that he'd written down some key words from their messages:

Opportunity, relationships, mentorships, spirituality, family, academics, environment, accountability, gratitude.

"It's really special to hear you reflect those values," Cunningham said to the honorees.

Values learned and practiced at Carolina, and sure to go with them as they leave.