Two student-athletes from the College of Education were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars for the 2022-23 school year. Join us in congratulating them on their remarkable accomplishment!
Eddie Lennon of Men's Track & Field and Sydney Stephens of Women's Soccer were among the 1,717 Big Ten student-athletes to earn this annual distinction.
Lennon, from Rolling Meadows, Illinois, graduated in the fall with a degree in History and is currently a graduate student in the College of Education, pursuing a master's degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in Social Studies. He runs distance events for the Fighting Illini Men's Track team.
Stephens, from Waterloo, Illinois, is currently pursuing her bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education. Last fall, Stephens was invited to Los Angeles to attend the College Football Playoff National Championship for her top fundraising campaign for the Extra Yard for Teachers Foundation. Stephens will begin her junior year soccer season this fall as a midfielder for Illinois Women's Soccer. She is currently playing for Olympic (WA) OLY Town Artesians in the USL W league. She was featured in the College of Education Student Spotlight last year.
Big Ten Faculty Representatives established the Distinguished Scholar Award in 2008 to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must have earned Academic All-Big Ten recognition in the previous academic year, must have been enrolled full-time at the institution for the entire previous academic year (two semesters or three quarters), and must have earned a minimum GPA of 3.70 or better during the previous academic year, excluding any summer grades. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student's academic career.
