SAN FRANCISCO – Epitomizing the "Be Artist. Be Athlete." mantra, Academy of Art Athletics made history beyond the playing field this past year.

The more than 200 student-athletes who comprise the Academy of Art University athletics department collectively achieved a 3.15 grade point average, the Urban Knights' highest mark since the program began in 2008. Winners of numerous individual and team academic honors previously, this past year culminated the work of all 14 sport programs (indoor and outdoor track & field as one) with a combined GPA a full 0.10 higher than the former record.

"I am thrilled that as a department, we have once again exceeded our goal of a 3.0 cumulative GPA," said assistant athletics director of academics & admissions liaison Marquis Aaron. "I would like to give a shout out to our staff, coaches, and of course our student-athletes for all of the hard work and dedication they put in over the past year. COVID-19 is an obstacle that could have easily led to a distraction and a dip in GPA, but instead our students-athletes, coaches, and staff faced the adversity head on and were able to overcome and excel in the classroom. I am excited to see how we continue to improve each and every year moving forward."

Topping its previous high from 2015-16, the department's 3.15 GPA reflected nine team GPAs that were 3.00 or above, led by women's tennis with a 3.40. A total of seven of the program's 14 teams increased their respective GPAs from Fall of 2019 to Spring of 2020.

"Academic success is our first priority within our athletic department and we are all very proud of the hard work our student-athletes put forth this past semester," said director of athletics Brad Jones. "For them to transition to all online courses and to excel the way they did is outstanding. We exceeded our department's academic goal and we are looking forward to building upon this success in the future."

Individually, a total of 21 student-athletes were above a 3.7 GPA in the fall semester followed by 27 in the spring semester. Out of the athletics program's total number of student-athletes, more than 100 finished the 2019-20 year with a cumulative GPA above a 3.0.