QUEENS, N.Y. - St John's dedicated the state-of-the-art Student-Athlete Center for Excellence on Friday, October 19. The new facility, located in Carnesecca Arena on the Queens campus of St. John's University, serves as the new home for the Student Development for Athletes program, which focuses on five key areas for success: Academic Support, Career Development, Personal Development, Leadership and Community Service.

"We are all very excited about this new facility," said Director of Athletics Chris Monasch. "St. John's has always had a great tradition of athletics and we now have one of the best facilities to help our student-athletes and give them the best chance to be successful. This is an encouraging vision of what Carnesecca Arena could be."

The new Student-Athlete Center for Excellence, which opened for the fall semester, serves as the home to the Student Development for Athletics Unit. Monasch was joined by Associate Vice President for Athletics Kathy Meehan, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Planning and Internal Operations Patrick Elliot, Associate Vice President for Academic Support Services Nancy Kaplan, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs Brian Colleary, and Senior Associate Athletics Director for Administration John Diffley at the dedication. This facility is the first step in a new renovation program for Carnesecca Arena. The center serves as an example of what is possible for the arena.

All freshmen and student-athletes below a 3.0 GPA are required to complete a minimum of six hours in the study center and meet with their advisor each week. Student-athletes completed a total of 17,678 hours of supervised studying in the 2006-07 academic year.

"For years St. John's University has been committed to academic excellence and now we have a facility to represent that commitment," said Director of Academic Support Eric Rienecker. "This center symbolizes St. John's dedication to the intellectual growth of its student-athletes."

The recently completed 4,000 square-foot facility features one large study room and can accommodate up to fifty-four students at a time and seventy-four when converted into a lecture hall. The center also includes four individual study rooms for quiet or one-on-one tutoring as well as offices for all the student development staff and a conference room for recruits, family, and meeting functions.