Student-Athletes Honored for Academics, Service
Three SDSU undergraduates received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award for their achievements in and outside the classroom.
A soccer player traveled to South America on a mission to empower girls through education and sports.
A basketball forward participated in a skills clinic for kids at two elementary schools.
A football cornerback made sandwiches and assembled snack bags for homeless individuals in Long Beach.
Three San Diego State University students have received the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar Award for 2019, honoring athletes who achieved academic excellence and have demonstrated a commitment to community service and leadership.
The awards are sponsored by the online magazine Diverse: Issues in Higher Education and were announced earlier this month. To qualify, undergraduate intercollegiate athletes must have maintained at least a 3.2 cumulative grade point average.
Here is a look at this year’s SDSU honorees – students who show they care as much about the world they live in as they do about game wins and personal statistics:
Ron Smith
Smith, an Aztecs cornerback, was named an Arthur Ashe Scholar for a third consecutive year. In his four years at SDSU, Smith received several additional academic honors, including three Mountain West Conference Scholar-Athlete awards and a 2018 President’s Award for High Athletic and Academic Excellence.
Smith graduated in 2018 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and a grade-point average of 4.0; he has remained at SDSU for the master of educational counseling program. Earlier this month, he was named to the 2019 NFF Hampshire Honor Society by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.
Smith’s volunteer activity includes meals for homeless individuals in downtown Long Beach, a Thanksgiving turkey drive for families in need conducted by Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, and work with the Feeding San Diego and Feeding America organizations.
He spoke to seventh-grade students in SDSU’s Compact for Success program with the Sweetwater Union High School District about the life of a student-athlete and visited San Diego’s e3 Civic High charter school to encourage students to attend college.
Arantxa Gómez Ferrer
Gómez Ferrer, a senior majoring in aerospace engineering, has completed four seasons as a forward in women’s basketball. She received a Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award and was named to the conference All-Academic Team in each of her first three years. In fall 2017, Gómez Ferrer was honored with the Malik Award, given to students who maintained a 4.0 GPA over the previous two semesters.
Gómez Ferrer has taught skills to elementary school students at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Nye Elementary in San Diego’s Valencia Park community. She was also among a group of men’s and women’s basketball players who visited Lafayette Elementary School in Clairemont, which serves deaf and hard of hearing students, answering questions and then joining them on the court.
Around the holidays in December 2018, Gómez Ferrer helped serve breakfast to the homeless with Father Joe’s Villages, and wrapped gifts and assembled food baskets for families in need.
Sarah Broacha
Broacha, a defender on the women’s soccer team, is a sophomore enrolled in interdisciplinary studies. In 2017, she was one of three freshmen to play in every game, and logged 90 minutes or more in nine games. Broacha was a conference scholar-athlete in 2018 and an Academic All-Conference honoree in 2017.
As a high school student, Broacha was among the first participants in Girls Soccer Worldwide, a movement for girls’ equality, empowerment and education. The program focuses on girls living in extreme poverty, teaching and encouraging them to play soccer. Broacha was part of a group that conducted the non-profit organization’s first mission, traveling in 2016 to Paraguay, and later to Argentina. She continues to assist the organization by collecting donations for the project.
In the Pleasanton Unified School district, Broacha also participated in a panel to promote mental health awareness, and she has participated in a fundraiser for multiple sclerosis.
The Diverse award is named for tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr., who won NCAA singles and doubles titles at UCLA and wrote a three-volume reference work on the history of African-American athletes, “A Hard Road to Glory.”
