University of Colorado graduate and former alpine skier Clare Wise has been named one of two recipients of the 2016 Pac-12 Leadership Award, Commissioner Larry Scott announced Tuesday.
Wise along with UCLA senior Patrick Woepse, the league’s other recipient of the award, will be granted a $3,000 postgraduate scholarship after being selected via a vote of the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
This award honors student-athletes who have not only been standout leaders on their campuses, within their athletic departments, and on their teams, but have also shown leadership on the Conference level in the areas of student-athlete welfare and student-athlete voice. As members of the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT), the two recipients of the 2016 Pac-12 Leadership Award have consistently demonstrated commitment to helping their fellow student-athletes and giving back to their communities.
“To win the Pac-12 leadership award was so special because I had so much fun working with my own SAAC committee at Colorado for three years and the SALT committee,” Wise said. “I just had such a great time and I thought the contributions we made were meaningful. To have other people recognize that and say you’ve done a good job meant a lot to me, so this award is really special.”
Wise, a native of Wenatchee, Wash., graduated from Colorado in May of 2016 with a 3.87 cumulative GPA in chemical and biological engineering. A member of the Buffalo alpine ski team and two-time national champion, she was a member of Colorado’s SAAC for three years including serving as its president in 2015-16. Wise was also the chair of the inaugural Pac-12 SALT meetings in October of 2015 where she took on a historic role in advancing the student-athlete voice in the Pac-12 Conference. Those meetings marked the first time the Pac-12 officially recognized the student-athlete voice in its governance structure and Wise led the way in making important recommendations to the conference’s athletics directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletics representatives.
“To be a part of the first Student-Athlete Leadership Team, or SALT, which gave us a real voice in the NCAA and the Pac-12, was really, really special and it felt real empowering to kind of be able to talk about all the current issues that pertain to student-athletes in the NCAA,” Wise said. “Being chosen to chair that committee was really thrilling and I was very grateful and honored to represent all the student-athletes in the Pac-12.”
Wise also used her leadership skills as a member of the Veteran Leaders Section, the Student-Athlete Engineers Organization and the Society of Women Engineers. Wise’s academic honors are plentiful and include being named the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department’s Distinguished Senior, a member of the CU Athletics 4.0 Club, a Presidential Scholarship recipient and a member of the NCAA All-Academic Ski Team. Wise is finishing her prerequisites for medical school and plans to enroll in the fall of 2017.
“Clare and Patrick are incredible examples of the leadership that coaches and administrators at Pac-12 schools seek to instill in all of their student-athletes,” said Commissioner Scott. “Not only are they both national champions and high-achieving students, but they’ve also taken time out of their busy schedules to lead their fellow student-athletes and work on issues of student-athlete welfare. We’re very proud of them.”
The Pac-12 Leadership Award is voted on by members of the Pac-12 SAAC and is a $3,000 post-graduate scholarship designed to recognize leadership and service on student-athlete advisory committees at Pac-12 member institutions. Applicants were required to be in their final year of intercollegiate athletics eligibility during the 2015-16 academic year and/or on track to graduate in the 2016-17 academic year when nominated.
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