A&M-Texarkana Receives Champions of Character Gold Award

Published: September 13, 2017

Amber galvan

Amber Galvan

Texas A&M University-Texarkana has been named a 2016-2017 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Champions of Character gold level five-star institution.

A&M-Texarkana was one of only two institutions in the Red River Athletic Conference to receive the gold standard, moving from bronze to silver and now gold in just three short years of eligibility.

Champions of Character provides training to ensure student-athletes know, do and value the right things in all areas of life. Five core values – integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership – are put into play, accounted for and tracked at all NAIA schools.

Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earn points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions also earn points based on exceptional student-athlete grade-point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.

Amber Galvan manages the Champions of Character program for A&M-Texarkana.

“All the credit must go to the student-athletes who volunteer their time for all of the community outreach projects throughout the year,” said Michael Galvan, director of athletics at A&M-Texarkana. “A special thank you goes to our athletic academic coordinator, Amber, who coordinates the time and place of the events and makes sure the student-athletes are ambassadors for A&M-Texarkana, not an easy task with 18- to 24-year-olds. Each coach must also be flexible enough in their schedule to allow these student-athletes the time away from practice and games to give back to such a tremendous community.”

The Champions of Character program launched in the early-2000s and is continually refining to ensure the NAIA is always at the forefront of character promotion in collegiate athletics.

The Red River Athletic Conference was also named a Five-Star Conference.