General | 6/9/2026 11:00:00 AM
The Empire 8 Conference announced its President’s List for the 2026 Spring semester on Tuesday, June 9. An astonishing 1,716 student-athletes from the league's membership were recognized for their excellence in the classroom this past semester with President’s List distinction, one of the most prestigious honors that the Empire 8 recognizes.
Recipients of this honor must earn a 3.75 grade-point average or higher during the semester, while participating in an NCAA-sponsored sport. In addition, the student-athlete must display positive conduct on and off campus and be enrolled full-time at the member institution. The conference states, “Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the Empire 8 Conference.”
To see all those that were recognized, please
click here for a detailed spreadsheet with all of the recipients and
teams honored.
CLOSER LOOK
The Empire 8’s 12 full-time members sponsored 5,492 student-athletes who combined for a conference-wide fall grade point average of 3.316. Overall, nearly 31 percent of all Empire 8 student-athletes received this impressive distinction.
Additionally, a league record 208 teams were acknowledged as Empire 8 Conference All-Academic Teams for registering a team grade point average of 3.2 or higher for the fall semester. Nine member institutions had at least 13 programs earn this honor. Nazareth University and St. John Fisher both led the way with 26 programs apiece on the All-Academic Team, while Alfred University and SUNY Geneseo were tied for third with 21 teams honored apiece and SUNY Brockport had 20 teams recognized. Utica University (18) and Russell Sage College (17) all had at least 15 teams honored.
The Russell Sage women’s basketball program led all teams with a remarkable 3.85 GPA, as three of the top four team GPAs came from women’s basketball (Alfred and Houghton – 3.8 GPA). The Alfred men’s tennis program led all men’s teams with a 3.78 GPA, while the Nazareth and Utica’s men’s hockey teams followed with 3.77 and 3.76 team GPA’s respectively. Overall, a record 87 different teams recorded at least a 3.5 grade-point average.
Student-athletes representing each of the conference's nine member institutions were among those honored in the 2026 Spring edition of the E8 President's List. Leading the way was St. John Fisher, which had an impressive 275 student-athletes earn recognition. Nazareth was second overall, with 227 student-athletes that garnered this honor, while SUNY Brockport had 188 student-athletes garner E8 President’s List accolades. Rounding out the top half within the conference were SUNY Geneseo with 157, followed by Utica and Alfred, who had 156 and 154 student-athletes honored., respectively
QUICK FACTS
- 1,716 E8 student-athletes earned President's List Distinction (GPA of at least 3.75)
- The average GPA among the conference's 5,492 student-athletes was 3.316
- All 12 institutions’ student-athletes posted an average GPA of greater than 3.15
- Eight institutions student-athletes recorded an average GPA of greater than 3.25
- A league-record 208 teams were recognized (3.2 team GPA or greater)
- Ten institutions had at least 10 teams recognized; seven had at least 15 teams honored