“Next year we may need a bigger space,” said John Jay President Jeremy Travis on April 11 as he welcomed scores of student-athletes to his office for a ceremony to honor those with grade-point averages of 3.2 or higher.

Of the College’s 205 student-athletes, 102 — nearly 50 percent — made the cut, including four who have perfect 4.0 GPAs, and a substantial number of first-year students.

“This is a signature event of the spring semester,” said Travis, “and a good day for John Jay.”

Vice President for Student Affairs Lynette Cook-Francis added her own words of praise, pointing out that potential employers tend to favor scholar-athletes as new hires due to their demonstrated passion, motivation and sense of teamwork.

The scholar-athletes were introduced and recognized roughly in ascending order of grade-point average, receiving certificates of achievement before posing for photos with Travis, Cook-Francis and Director of Athletics Carol Kashow.

The scholar-athletes with perfect GPAs represented four different sports and four different majors. Their achievement was said to be a first for John Jay Athletics. They are:

Matthew Appodisano (Baseball), Fire Science major;

Nicole Garcia (Cheerleading), Criminal Justice-BA major, Spanish minor;

Diana Rodriguez (Swimming), Law and Society major;

Kayla Talbot (Soccer), Forensic Psychology major, Biology minor, Macaulay Honors College.