CORVALLIS, Ore. – Bushnell University’s Samantha Silver and Jaron Carter were named the 2022-23 Cascade Collegiate Conference Champions of Character of the Year, announced Wednesday morning by the conference office.
The annual award recognizes one male and one female athlete who represent the five aspects of the Champions of Character – Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Sportsmanship, and Servant Leadership. The award is voted on by the conference athletic directors based on nominations from member schools.
Silver, a senior from Mount Vernon, Wash., currently holds a 4.0 GPA in her Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s Program. She is the reigning CCC Female Champion of Character and won the NAIA’s Dr. Leroy Walker Champion of Character Award last year. Her work in relation to preparing Student-Athlete Mental Health programs that fueled her nomination last season has come to fruition this year. She serves as a peer counselor and through her Vision and Call Grant, has continued to develop and improve the student-athlete mental health programs that she helped launch. She also serves as a leader in the Bushnell chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which was recognized by ASBU as Bushnell’s “Club of the Year”. She has a leading role in community service efforts, especially during Bushnell’s “Embrace the Community” day where they worked with Catholic Community Service and Youth for Christ. Athletically, she was a team captain and the top pitcher on the Beacon's softball staff.
“Sam has been and continues to be a pillar of leadership as a student-athlete for Bushnell University. We are so proud of Sam for being a true student-athlete along with the continued work that she does to establish student-athlete mental health and wellness while coordinating grad student’s clinical hours with our athletic teams.” – Corey Anderson (Bushnell AD).
Other Female Nominees: British Columbia’s Olivia Lundman, College of Idaho’s Abby Shirts, Corban University’s Abbygail Furrow, Eastern Oregon University’s Adyson Harris-Shaw, Lewis-Clark State College’s Kendzee Cloward, Menlo College’s Ajayzee Zaballos, Multnomah University’s Kaitlin Wenz, Northwest University’s Sydney Maurer, Oregon Tech’s Payton Canon, University of Providence’s Taylor Mathews, Southern Oregon University’s Kami Walk
Carter, a senior from Tacoma, Wash., has been a leader among the student body from the minute he stepped foot on Bushnell University. He is a Bushnell and CCC SAAC representative, works as a campus tour guide, and can regularly be seen around campus and in the community volunteering. As a Student Programs Coordinator on campus, he helped plan and creatively market large-scale, well-attended, community-building events. He also founded the Bushnell Art Club, spent time as Bushnell Mascot Iggy, and worked as the New Student Orientation Coordinator. Last summer he was a resident assistant, admissions assistant, and a small group leader. Jaron helped to lead a fall kick-off service project, doing painting, and reorganizing at a donation center for a local non-profit. This season, the three-time All-CCC athlete set a school record in the 400m and finished fourth in the CCC Championships. Jaron Carter has been hired by Bushnell University to serve as an Admissions Counselor beginning this summer and will continue to bring greatness to the community as a Champion of Character.
"Jaron is a young man of high integrity, who cares deeply about others, more than himself. He’s always taking younger teammates under his wing and helping them learn and grow. He also works very hard and through his successes, has remained very humble. He is the ultimate example of a champion of character and what a true Beacon should look like." – Tom Boldon (Head BU T&F Coach)
Other Male Nominees: College of Idaho’s Drew Wyman, Corban University’s Nate Martin, Eastern Oregon University’s Noel Orozco, Lewis-Clark State College’s Connor Turpin, Menlo College’s Nicholas Camacho, Multnomah University’s Tyress Taylor, Oregon Tech’s Ryan Pearson, University of Providence’s Kolby Hayes, Southern Oregon University’s Asher Tatsumi
