2018 A-10 Postgraduate Scholarship Recipients

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Recent Duquesne graduate Lexi Santer (Wilmington, Del./Charter School of Wilmington), a member of the Dukes swimming and diving team, was named as one of 14 recipients of an Atlantic 10 Postgraduate Scholarship, conference officials announced Thursday afternoon.

All 14 honorees will receive $5,000 to contribute towards full-time enrollment in a postgraduate or professional program. Designed to provide graduating student-athletes the opportunity to continue their education, the program awards $70,000 in scholarship funding to former A-10 student-athletes. This marks the fourth straight year the Atlantic 10 has provided the scholarships to 14 individuals, and over the past five years, the A-10's Postgraduate Scholarship program has awarded $350,000 to 66 former student-athletes.

"This is one of our most prestigious and highly-coveted honors that the Atlantic 10 awards its student-athletes," stated Atlantic 10 Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade. "Each of our postgraduate honorees are deserving of this award, super intelligent and multi-talented young people! Each will be exceptional leaders and successful in their post-graduate studies. I offer my congratulations to these 14 outstanding men and women."

The selection process, which involves the league's athletic directors, senior woman administrators and faculty athletic representatives, resulted in a class with an average GPA of 3.74. The class is comprised of 10 female student-athletes and four males, representing six different sports.

Santer is currently enrolled in Duquesne's master of science in occupational therapy program after recently graduating with a bachelor of science degree in occupational therapy with minors in gerontology and psychology.

Santer is a three-time A-10 All-Academic team selection and a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-America honoree. She owns individual school records in the 200-yard backstroke and is part of three school record relay teams in the 400-yard freestyle, 800-yard freestyle and the 400-yard medley relays.

The Wilmington, Del. native is a 13-time medalist at the A-10 Championship, including a pair of gold medal performances in the 400-yard individual medley in 2015 and the 200-yard backstroke in 2016.

She played a pivotal role in helping the Dukes capture their first-ever A-10 Championship title in 2018. This followed a pair of second-place finishes in 2016 and `17 and a third-place showing in 2015.

In addition, Santer earned Dean's List, A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Director of Athletics Honor Roll recognition. On campus, she was a member of the Duquesne Integrated Honors Society, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Pi Theta Epsilon, the national honor society for occupational therapy students. She is a member of the United States Lifesaving Association High-Performance Squad and volunteered with multiple organizations over her standout career.

In each of the last four years, the average GPA of the honorees for the Postgraduate Scholarship Program has been 3.70 or higher. The program, which began honoring two student-athletes in 1991, has been so successful and well-received by both the recipients and the A-10 member institutions that it has expanded several times. The most recent expansion, which was adopted in January, 2015 and implemented that spring, now includes one representative from each A-10 school.

To be considered for the Postgraduate Scholarship, student-athletes must have performed with distinction both in the classroom and in their respective sports throughout their career, while demonstrating exemplary conduct in the community. The postgraduate program expanded to four recipients in 1997 and then to 10 in 2014.

The Postgraduate Scholarship Program is part of the conference's broad-based commitment to student-athlete opportunities and academics. The conference consistently ranks at the top amongst all Division I Conferences in both Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and the Academic Progress Rate (APR) data released by the NCAA.


About the Atlantic 10 Conference
The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 and consists of 14 diverse members across eight states and Washington, D.C. The mission of the Atlantic 10 is to provide an enhanced student-athlete experience through 21 nationally competitive championship sports. The basketball-centric conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for its student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The membership consists of Davidson College, the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, George Mason University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University and Virginia Commonwealth University. For more information, visit www.atlantic10.com.