(Photo of Josh Chanin by Joe Fusco, d3photography.com, jfactionphoto.com)
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. - Josh Chanin of Austin College and
Molly Brown of Colorado College have been selected as the SCAC Male
and Female Character & Community Student-Athletes of the Week,
respectively, for the week ending Sunday, March 9.
The SCAC Character & Community award was created in 2009 to
honor and recognize the efforts of the
extraordinary student-athletes of the conference who not
only excel athletically on the field, course, court, pool or
track, but also by serving their campus and community.
To view past winners of the award, click here.
JOSH CHANIN OF AUSTIN COLLEGE, a sophomore on
the men's swimming and diving team, has been selected the SCAC
Character & Community Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for the
week ending Sunday, March 9, 2014.
Chanin, a native of Coppell, Texas, has been active throughout his
time at Austin College in the community both as a member of the
Student Athlete Advisory Council and in various community service
projects. He has been dedicated to community and volunteer work
since his days at Coppell High School, where he was awarded the
prestigious Community Service Award as a senior. He was also the
secretary of the school’s Red Cross Club and was inducted
into the National Honor Society and the National Spanish Honor
Society.
During his high school years, Chanin completed more than
250 community service hours, volunteering with various projects
such as animal shelters, working with the elderly, and Relay for
Life. He also worked as a volunteer swim coach for his local YMCA
Special Olympics for three summers. During his senior year at
Coppell, he was selected as the Coppell Rotary Club Student of the
Season for all of his work in the community. His work with Special
Olympics has carried over to his time at Austin College, as he has
helped organize multiple events as a member of the SAAC.
In addition to his work in the SAAC and with Special
Olympics, Chanin serves as a member of the
Environmentally Friendly ECOS Club, and as part of the Great Day of
Service, he volunteered at the local Denison, Texas Food Pantry. He
is also a Resident Assistant at Austin College, as well as a member
of the Acapella Choir. He also excels in the classroom, having been
named to the 2013 SCAC Spring Academic Honor Roll, and in high
school he was a TISCA Academic All-State selection and a NISCA
Academic All-American.
MOLLY BROWN OF COLORADO COLLEGE, a senior on
the women's swimming and diving team, has been selected the SCAC
Character & Community Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Week for
the week ending March 9, 2014.
It didn’t take long for the native of Decatur, Ga., to
become a leader, both on the deck at Schlessman Natatorium and on
campus.
By the end of her freshman campaign, Brown held school
records in both the 100 back (1:00.30) and 200 back (2:11.10), and
helped her team break another one in the 200 medley relay
(2:14.17).
As a sophomore, she posted CC’s top times in three events
– the 200 back (2:17.21), 200 IM (2:17.38) and 400 IM
(4:56.73).
During the fall semester of her junior
year, Brown sacrificed her training to study in
Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. That experience led to her
selecting development and foreign direct investment in Latin
America as her senior thesis.
Brown’s commitment to community service also began
during her freshman year when she was named service and
philanthropy chair of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. One of her
biggest projects was planning Kicks for CASA, a campus-wide
kickball tournament which raises an average of $6,000 annually for
CASA of the Pikes Peak region.
Throughout her four years at Colorado College, Brown has
been a leader among student athletes as well as the entire campus
community. This year she was elected president of Kappa Alpha
Theta, named to the President’s Council and elected president
of the senior class committee, which is responsible for selecting
and fundraising for the senior class gift. This year, the committee
decided to fund an endowed scholarship in the name of Reuben
Mitrani, a classmate who passed away while studying abroad during
his sophomore year. The scholarship will provide aid to a deep-
need student each year.
During her first three years, Brown represented the
swimming and diving team on Colorado College’s
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee before passing the torch to a
teammate. During that time, she became one the organization’s
representative to the SCAC and appeared in videos describing
sportsmanship and what it means to be a Division III
student-athlete, as well as another highlighting school spirit at
CC for the #SCAC8in8 initiative.
The last two summers, she worked for the Colorado College Summer
Conference office as an intern planning and executing all of the
conferences that stay on our campus during the summer. This year,
she fulfilled an internship with Kids are Dramatic, an organization
with the mission of researching and developing education in the
arts.
A three-time member of the SCAC Honor Roll, Brown has
compiled a 3.33 grade-point average as an economics major with a
minor in Spanish.
