The Southern Conference announced its 2011-12 Honor Roll on Monday afternoon and 178 Georgia Southern student-athletes earned spots on the list, which recognized 1,950 student-athletes from each of the league’s institutions.
    SoCon athletics directors established the honor roll prior to the 1988-89 athletic season as a way to recognize the league's outstanding student-athletes. The academic honor roll consists of student-athletes who participated in varsity sports at member institutions and posted a 3.0 grade-point average or higher while passing at least 24 hours in two semesters of classes or its equivalent for other academic calendars.
    GSU had 18 student-athletes post a perfect 4.0 GPA, while 83 earned the Commissioner’s Medal, recording a 3.5 GPA or higher.
    Each of GSU's teams were honored, led by the SoCon champion football team, which placed 35 members on the honor roll. The swimming & diving squad logged 22 members, while the men’s soccer team had 17 honorees. The SoCon champion softball Team had 16 honor roll student-athletes, followed by women’s soccer (15), volleyball (13), women’s tennis (10) and women’s basketball (10).
    As a unit, GSU athletics teams set a new program record with a 2.96 overall GPA for the 2011-12 academic year. The Eagles also set a new record with a 3.0 GPA in the spring semester of 2012, besting the previous semester record of 2.92 set in the fall of 2011.