Harris is one of 400 honored nationally

Zak Harris ’07

Zak Harris, a junior from Warren, R.I. and a member of the men’s basketball team, has been awarded a place on the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar 2006 men’s basketball second team. The announcement was made in the April 6 edition of “Diverse Issues in Higher Education” magazine, which is the sponsor of the recognition program.

The award honors undergraduate students of color who exemplify the standards set by tennis great Arthur Ashe Jr. To be included, students have to compete in an intercollegiate sport, maintain a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.2, and be active on their campuses or in their communities.

Last year, approximately 400 male and female student-athletes from across the country were nominated for the award.

In the NESCAC, Harris plays basketball in what is arguably the toughest league in all of Division III. Freshman season, he averaged eight points and 5.1 rebounds per game and shot 57 percent from the field. Sophomore season, Harris was third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding, averaging 8.3 points and 5.2 boards per game. In a January 2005 game, Harris scored a season-high 22 points with nine rebounds.

Harris, who was recently named to the dean’s high honors list for Fall 2005, has battled an injury this season, yet appeared in four games for the Camels, averaging 2 points, .5 rebounds and .5 blocks per game.

Harris is chair of the Student Government Association’s Diversity and Equity Committee and serves on five committees on campus, including the Bias Incident Task Force. Sophomore year, Harris co-published a publication called “The Avenue,” which focused on issues surrounding the minority population at Connecticut College.

For the past two years Harris has volunteered in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program as a mentor to a local teenager. In the same two years he also participated in the ALANA (African American, Latino/a, Asian-American and Native American) Sister/Brother program as a “big sib.” These volunteers are selected and trained to help first-year students adjust to, and successfully function within, Connecticut College.

Additionally, freshman and sophomore years, Harris volunteered to work with young children between the ages of three and five at the Connecticut College Children’s Program, an early childhood program for infants and young children of diverse backgrounds and abilities in Southeastern Connecticut.

Last year, senior Molly Kawachi was named to the Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar 2006 women’s volleyball second team.