CLEVELAND – For the second-straight year the Western Michigan men's athletics program has been named the winner of the 2024 Mid-American Conference Men's Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) Academic Achievement Award.
 
The FAR Awards are designed to recognize the Conference institution with the highest overall combination of both grade point average (GPA) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) rank by gender.  The GPA's were based upon the 2023-24 academic year.
 
The Conference FAR's worked with the Athletic Academic Advisors to compute an award that best represents the academic achievement of student-athletes in a competitive setting.  The FAR Awards are given to those institutions' male and female programs with the highest overall combination of GPA and APR within the Conference.  Only MAC sponsored sports are used.
 
"We are proud of the tremendous work of our student-athletes, coaches and academic support team in positioning us for this type of excellence," said WMU Director of Athletics/Vice President Dan Bartholomae.  "Particularly in today's intercollegiate athletics landscape, to be recognized for retaining and graduating our athletes in these sports at the highest academic standing is a testament to their efforts."
 
"We are incredibly proud of our student-athletes," said WMU FAR and dean of the Merze Tate College, Luchara Wallace. "Western Michigan University Athletics creates and environment where our student-athletes excel in the classroom as well as on the field. Our programs create family-like environments where student-athletes feel safe, welcome, seen, and affirmed—providing them with the support they need to remain and ultimately graduate."

This is the 10th time overall that WMU has won the award since it was created back in 2008, with no other school in the MAC having more than four wins.
 
Three Western Michigan men's athletic programs posted the highest GPA during the 2023-24 season -- Baseball at 3.609, Men's Basketball at 3.388 and Men's Tennis at 3.844. WMU's men's programs brought home APR rates of 1000 for the following programs: Baseball, Men's Basketball and Men's Tennis.