Somerset, N.J. - Saint Francis University was once again near the top of the standings in the NEC Building Communities Award presented by Insperity, finishing second to Fairleigh Dickinson among the 11 full-time schools in the Northeast Conference. Although SFU's two-year reign as champion came to an end, Saint Francis student-athletes amassed a total of 5,917 service hours over the 2019-20 academic year, an average of 12.78 hours per student-athlete. Fairleigh Dickinson won the award with an average of 13.1 community service hours per student-athlete.

"This is truly a well-deserved recognition for our student-athletes," said Sarah Ross, Associate Director for Student-Athlete Development and Academic Services. "To finish second in the Building Communities Award competition is a testament to how special the experience at SFU is. When a student-athlete commits their collegiate career to SFU, I know they will have a tremendous athletic experience and will earn a degree that will take them anywhere they could imagine, but most importantly, I know they will be leaving here as exceptional human beings. Our student-athletes are truly committed to using their resources and platforms to make an impact in the community. It is sincerely humbling to watch these student-athletes at work."

The swim team completed the most community service of any team in the department with 1,044 hours, which breaks down to about 37.29 hours per player.  Some of their biggest projects as a team included the SAMs Safe Trick or Treat Night, Bat Flash Carnival, and SFU R.E.D Day. 

Despite an abbreviated campaign due to COVID-19 campus closures, NEC student-athletes accounted for the third-highest single-year total (31,262 service hours) in the history of the Building Communities Award.