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°®ÎÛ´«Ã½ men's basketball's Edvinas Rupkus '19 has enough accolades from the court and the classroom to awe any athlete. But his roles as a student, leader and friend are what left marks on °®ÎÛ´«Ã½ hearts. 

"Rupkus graduated with two league titles, three NCAA appearances, two conference player of the year awards, and first team All-American and Academic All-American honors," said "He turned away three Division I scholarships because °®ÎÛ´«Ã½ was a better fit. I think he made a pretty good decision." 

Colleen Burke, executive in residence, said, "Edvinas never stopped performing and contributing at the highest possible level." And his "maturity, character, perseverance, judgement and scholarship" were all factors in him earning a prestigious business and management internship with Bill McKendree '74, chief executive officer of Clarion Group. 

The 6-foot-4 guard from Lithuania wrapped up his Thoroughbred career as °®ÎÛ´«Ã½'s all-time leading scorer with 2,128 points and as a finalist for NCAA Division III Player of the Year. The double major in business and economics also had a near-perfect GPA. 

Jeffrey Segrave, professor of health and human physiological sciences, said, "Ed is the very best expression of what it means to be a student-athlete. He brought the same determination and motivation to both academic and athletic endeavors, exemplifying how they mutually reinforce each other." 

Charlie Williams '19, a teammate and friend, said "Ed is the kind of guy who was always there for us, even making breakfast for everyone before big games or big tests. As a teammate, he never kept track of his own points because the team was more important. He is a leader that's hard not to follow." 

And, as a testament to his love of °®ÎÛ´«Ã½, Rupkus finished his time here doing his part to give back.

As co-chair of the Senior Gift Executive Committee, he encouraged his Class of 2019 peers to give a gift of any size to support future scholarship, diversity, sustainability and athletics initiatives.

Rupkus, with his co-chair Imara Bina Joroff '19, announced at Commencement that the Class of 2019 set a new participation record: 95% of seniors contributed a total of $5,393.

Rupkus encouraged his fellow grads to continue their generosity in the future.

With each gift, we pay it forward for future students and send a message to °®ÎÛ´«Ã½ about what we, both individually and as a class, think is important.

Edvinas Rupkus '19