Baldwin-Wallace's Kevin Ruple to Receive 2011 CoSIDA Lester Jordan Award
By: Jim Rodriguez '11
Baldwin-Wallace Sports Information Student Assistant
BEREA, OHIO – Baldwin-Wallace College sports information director Kevin Ruple will be honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as the recipient of the 2011 Lester Jordan Award. The award has been presented annually since 1994 to an individual for exemplary service to CoSIDA’s Academic All-America® award program and the promotion of the ideals of being a student-athlete.
“Kevin's passion for the Academic All-America® program is obvious," said Mark Beckenbach, sports information director at Ohio Wesleyan University and co-chair of the Capital One Academic All-America® committee. "He is an outstanding national coordinator who often goes above and beyond the call of duty. I'd like to think that if Lester Jo
rdan were here today, he would be pleased to present his namesake award to Kevin."
rdan were here today, he would be pleased to present his namesake award to Kevin."Ruple, who has served as the SID at Baldwin-Wallace since 1983, will receive the award at the annual CoSIDA Workshop in Marco Island, Florida, on June 26-29 at the Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort. The award is named after Jordan, who founded the Academic All-America® program in the early 1950s while the sports information director at Southern Methodist University.
"I am both humbled and honored to receive the Lester Jordan Award,” said Ruple. “It is an award that symbolizes our profession -- promoting the philosophy and exploits of the student-athlete. I have appreciated the opportunities that Dick Lipe, Bernie Cafarelli, Mark Beckenbach, and others have afforded me in that endeavor."
A native of Ashtabula, Ohio, Ruple began his career in as an intern at The College of Wooster, his alma mater, before arriving at B-W the following year. He has been a member of CoSIDA for the past 29 years and has been heavily involved in the organization.
He has served on the Academic All-America® committee since 1997, beginning his tenure as a district coordinator for soccer, baseball, and at-large selections. He currently serves as the national coordinator for the football and at-large categories, a position he has held since 2005. Ruple has also served on the CoSIDA Board of Directors for four years as a college division representative and held positions on the CoSIDA job services and publications committees. He has also served four terms as president of the Ohio Athletic Conference Public Relations Task Force.
“I have greatly appreciated the opportunities to contribute to both CoSIDA and the OAC in leadership positions,” Ruple said. “It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to work with so many influential and talented people in our profession and to be able to hopefully make a difference in the student-athlete and student assistant experience. If what I’ve been able to accomplish helps one student-athlete and has created opportunities for my student assistants and others, it has been well-worth every hour spent.”
For Ruple, the Lester Jordan Award marks the third time in the past decade that he has been recognized by his colleagues with a major CoSIDA award. In 2004, at the CoSIDA Workshop in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ruple earned the prestigious Warren Berg Award, which annually recognizes the CoSIDA College Division member who has made outstanding contributions to the field and has brought dignity and prestige to the profession. Then, at the 2008 CoSIDA Workshop in Tampa, Florida, Ruple was inducted into the CoSIDA Hall of Fame.
"The Lester Jordan Award, much like winning the Warren Berg Award and being selected to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, has been made possible by an outstanding staff at Baldwin-Wallace College that has afforded me the staff and resources to do a good job,” commented Ruple.
Ruple joins Dave Wrath of Augustana (Ill.) College as the only small-college SIDs to receive all three awards. And while Ruple appreciates the recognition, he realizes none of his accolades would be possible without the help of his student assistants.
“If I could cut the Jordan Award into little pieces, I would send one to each of the many student assistants and others who have helped me coordinate first the district ballots and now the national ballots,” noted Ruple. “Back in the day when we had to typeset entire ballots, the student assistants were even more of a key to getting the job done. This award is as much as reflection on their efforts as it is mine."
And it is the relationships that Ruple has developed over the years with his past and present student assistants, many of whom are now working in sports information at the college and professional levels, that truly make him proud.
Ruple resides in Berea, Ohio, and has a 12-year-old son, Danny.
FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics