May 16, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Former Arizona State volleyball player Jami Coughlin was recognized for both the academic and athletic performance she displayed during her playing career (1998-2001) as a Sun Devil, but the final award she received may be the greatest of all. Graduating last week with a perfect 4. 0 GPA in special education, Coughlin was honored as the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Moeur Award during Spring 2002 Commencement.
The Moeur Award is Arizona State University's oldest, continuing honor. It was established in 1901 by Dr. Benjamin B. Moeur [former Arizona governor] and Honor Anderson Moeur, and is now sponsored annually by the Arizona State University Alumni Association. The award is presented at each Commencement ceremony to those individuals who have attained the highest academic standing in any four-year curriculum during their undergraduate years at ASU. All courses of the curriculum must be completed at ASU.
The award is the only ASU honor that is strictly determined by grade point average. A student's extracurricular activities, leadership qualities, volunteer work, or athletic accomplishments are not taken into account when designating this award. In addition to demonstrating academic excellence, recipients of the Moeur Award must have completed all of their course work at ASU. Therefore, graduating transfer students are not eligible to receive this honor. For Spring 2002 Commencement, only 8 students were identified as eligible for the award out of approximately 3400 undergraduate candidates.
A three-time Academic All-American and All-Pac-10 Academic selection, Coughlin was also a team leader on the court for the Sun Devils. A four-year starter and three-year captain, Coughlin finished her career second in the ASU record books with 1,528 career digs and was among just seven other players in school history to record at least 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.