NEW YORK CITY – When Northwestern State football linebacker Yaser Elqutub picked up an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship Tuesday night as one of 16 National Scholar-Athletes honored at the The National Football Foundation's  annual awards dinner, his achievements earned a $5,000 donation to NSU's Johnnie Emmons Academic Center.
 
The NFF announced Thursday that it has launched a new initiative, sponsored by Fidelity Investments^®, a leading provider of not-for-profit workplace retirement savings plans in higher education, that will honor the significant contributions of faculty athletics representatives across the nation. A contribution of $5,000 honoring faculty athletics representatives at each school with an NFF National Scholar-Athlete will be made to assist academic support services for student-athletes at the 16 colleges and universities.
 
Assistant psychology professor Jody Biscoe is NSU's faculty athletics representative and works closely with Carrie Crowell, who directs the Emmons Academic Center and its support services to the nearly 400 student-athletes at NSU.
 
“This is a fantastic surprise,” said Elqutub. “I've been blessed to receive the postgraduate scholarship, which is only possible because of the help of our athletic department, my coaches and so many faculty and staff at Northwestern. Finding out this award is going to recognize Mr. Biscoe and help the athletic department's Academic Center really makes me happy. It's going to give a boost to my fellow student-athletes and those to follow, and that is very gratifying.”

"For more than 150 years, faculty athletics representatives have played a critical role in the overall educational experience of our country's student-athletes," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "We are proud to join with Fidelity to highlight the pivotal support that faculty athletics representatives provide every day to ensure our nation's student-athletes succeed on and off the field."

The new initiative is an extension of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, which honor college football's most outstanding student-athletes with scholarships to continue their post-graduate educations. It will annually honor the faculty athletics representative from each school with a NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award winner for their role in ensuring a strong connection between the academic and athletic experiences of our nation's student-athletes.

Fidelity, which is also the presenting sponsor of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, has taken on a leadership role with the new initiative as a natural extension of its ongoing support of the scholar-athlete ideal and commitment to higher education nationwide.

"It requires a team effort to fulfill the educational mission at our nation's colleges and universities," said John Ragnoni, executive vice president, Fidelity Tax-Exempt Retirement Services. "We strongly believe in the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards and wanted to do more to recognize some of the individuals who are helping our nation's athletes excel. By making a financial contribution to each school, we aim to highlight the role each faculty athletics representative has played in producing a NFF National Scholar-Athlete, while also supporting their efforts to produce the next generation of scholar-athletes."

"Honoring the faculty athletics representatives from the schools with NFF National Scholar-Athletes makes perfect sense," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "There is no group more committed to the well-being of our student-athletes, and the NFF National Scholar-Athlete success stories provide a natural vehicle for emphasizing the important contributions of the faculty athletics representatives."