NATCHITOCHES – As he received his Louisiana Scholars' College degree Friday morning as a magna cum laude graduate of  Northwestern State, highly-decorated Demons linebacker Yaser Elqutub added another award to his collection, as an unprecedented recipient of an “Nth Degree” from university President Dr. Randy Webb.
 
The Nth Degree is given by Northwestern in recognition of unselfish devotion to duty and the willingness to go the “extra mile” in meritorious service to mankind.Until Friday morning, it had never been presented at commencement to a graduating student.
 
“It's appropriate that we set a precedent by presenting Yaser with an Nth Degree,” said Webb. “Yaser has demonstrated class and distinction as he has brought such great credit from all around the nation to Northwestern, and he has served his fellow students and this community in a selfless and ceaseless manner.”
 
He is the only college football student-athlete in 2011 to receive one of 16 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Awards and to make the 22-man Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. He was elected by fan vote to be the captain of the Good Works Team and will head the squad to be recognized at halftime of the Jan. 3 Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
 
Last week,  Elqutub was an honored guest at the NFF's black-tie Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, then flew to Orlando where he was introduced on ESPN as the captain of the Good Works Team, a 22-member squad chosen earlier this fall for remarkable community service and leadership. He was also named a second-team Capital One Academic All-America selection last Thursday.
 
Elqutub was chosen for the Good Works Team captain's honor by fans who voted on ESPN.com over several weeks following the announcement of the team roster in late September.  Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association, which initiated the Good Works Team program 20 years ago, partnered last year with ESPN to expand promotion of the Good Works Team by election of a team captain.
 
Elqutub's far-reaching community service activities last year won him the 2010-11 Southland Conference Steve McCarty Citizenship Award.  Earlier Thursday, he was announced as a 2011 Capitol One Academic All-American, two days after he was recognized as one of 16 National Scholar-Athletes and received an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship at the National Football Foundation's Annual Awards Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.
 
Elqutub graduated with a 3.85 grade point average in scientific inquiry in the Louisiana Scholars' College at Northwestern. He was a two-year starting linebacker for the Demons after beginning his career as a walk-on. He finished with 121 career tackles and was elected a permanent team captain by his teammates.
 
Along with the other 21 Good Works Team members, Elqutub will travel to New Orleans for the 2011 Allstate Sugar Bowl. The student-athletes will participate in a special community service project, conducting a football clinic for area youth through the YMCA of Greater New Orleans. For the fourth consecutive season, the Good Works Team will be honored at halftime of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, televised nationally on ESPN on Jan. 3.
  
Among Elqutub's community service activities, he has mentored youth through the Natchitoches Parish Sheriff's Office's Families in Need of Services (FINS) program, and planned a series of campus events last April to benefit Samaritan's Feet, an international organization that provides shoes and feet washings for children in third world countries. Members of the Sheriff's Office attended Friday morning's graduation ceremonies.
 
Elqutub, a medical school applicant, has volunteered at local medical facilities to gain experience while helping others. He is the two-term president of the NSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, and the Southland Conference SAAC, attending the last two NCAA Conventions to represent his peers around the conference.