Magazine rates UH athletics in top 20

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i athletic department is ranked in the top 20 of the U.S. News & World Report college sports rankings in its March 18 issue.

The magazine's inaugural sports honor roll recognizes 20 schools with the best overall rankings across four major categories of achievement — gender equity, win-loss performance in all sports, number of sports offered and graduation rates. In addition, it takes into account NCAA sanctions.

The magazine listed its top 20 in alphabetical order. Hawai'i was the only Western Athletic Conference school to make the list, which also included five Ivy League members.

Jim Donovan, UH associate athletic director, said: "About five or six years ago, we decided to treat our department like a successful business. We have upgraded our facilities and schedules and improved the overall student-athlete experience. It is great to see a nationally respected magazine acknowledge our strategy as paying dividends."

Other schools listed were Boston College, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Lehigh, Penn State, Princeton, Stanford, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, Utah and Villanova.

The ratings were based upon data furnished by the NCAA and schools. The magazine surveyed 321 NCAA Division I members for the school year ending June 30, 2001.