- Posted in All University
- Category: AthleticsCampus News
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Lincoln University junior football player Islam Abdul-Rabb (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) has been honored by the Institute for Sport and Social Justice based on his academic improvement and the impact his academic performance had on his classmates, teammates, academic advisors, and professors, the organization announced today (March 25, 2021).
Abdul-Rabb (McKeesport, Pa./McKeesport) was one of 27 student-athletes nationally to earn the First Team Academic Momentum Award. He finished second on the team in tackles in 2019 and was fourth on the team in tackles in 2018. He is a Health Sciences major.
Established in 1995, the Scholar Baller® movement evolved in response to concerns that the student-athletes athletics role increasingly superseded the student role. Well before the Name Image and Likeness (NIL) movement, Scholar-Baller in 2004 made history as the first organization to brand educational logos (ThinkMan® and ThinkWoman®) on NCAA and NAIA student-athlete jerseys, helmets, and uniforms during athletic competition. 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 continues to produce unprecedented outcomes in student retention, academic achievement, and career development. This is in part due to the organization's culturally relevant representation(s) of student-athlete academic performance outcomes through imagery and language. Other schools and conferences have imitated the Scholar Baller educational and "graduation stamp" of success on the jerseys and helmets.
Each award recipient will receive an official Academic Momentum Award certificate. First Team Academic Momentum Award recipients will also receive a limited edition ThinkMan® or ThinkWoman® trophy. Second Team Academic Momentum Award recipients will also receive a limited edition ThinkMan® and ThinkWoman® cardholder and a keychain.
The Institute for Sport & Social Justice (ISSJ) is a national non-profit organization, on the University of Central Florida campus, that utilizes the passion and love for sport to create a safe environment to explore and discuss social justice issues. The mission of ISSJ is to "use the power of sport to effect positive social change. We educate and empower individuals and organizations by inspiring values-based thinking leading to actions that promote social responsibility and equality." CHANGING LIVES THROUGH THE POWER OF SPORT!
