Beacons Earn NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Gold Award

EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell University was among 12 Cascade Collegiate Conference institutions that were named Champions of Character® Five-Star Award winners for 2024-25, announced by the NAIA on Tuesday. In addition, the Cascade Collegiate Conference was named a Five-Star Conference.

Bushnell University has now been selected for 11 straight years of the current structure. Bushnell was also recognized at the highest level, earning Gold honors, for a seventh consecutive year, the only CCC school to accomplish this.

Bushnell University, Eastern Oregon University, Lewis-Clark State College, Northwest University, Southern Oregon and Walla Walla University each had perfect scores. College of Idaho, Corban University, Multnomah, Oregon Tech, and Warner Pacific University earned silver while The Evergreen State College received bronze.

Institutions are measured on a demonstrated commitment to Champions of Character and earn points in character training, conduct in competition, academic focus, character recognition and character promotion. Institutions earned points based on exceptional student-athlete grade point averages and by having minimal to no ejections during competition throughout the course of the academic year.

To be named a Champions of Character Five-Star Conference, conferences must have an established Champions of Character Conference Committee, a conduct in competition oversight committee composed of a minimum of three members and at least 60-percent of member institutions receiving the NAIA Champions of Character Five-Star Institution Award.

Full list of criteria and winners can be found here.

To learn more about Bushnell University Athletics, visit www.bushnellbeacons.com.